Sweet Pea, who at the ripe old age of 98 dog years is the senior citizen of our family!!
Happy Friday!!
So excited for a mini-road trip to Arkansas I'm taking today with my kiddos and Daisy to meet a new family member--Gypsy! But before I tell you who Gypsy is, you have to suffer through the back story of how this 9lb baby entered our lives . . .
The last book in my Buckhorn Ranch series, A Baby in His Stocking, is released next month. UPS brought my author copies yesterday and I got all misty over the dedication. (I turn in books a good six months or more before they're published, so a lot of times what the dedication is has nothing to do with my current life, but was meaningful to me when the book was turned in.) We're a dog family, so I dedicated this story to Noodle, my parents' dachshund who lived to the grand, old age of eighteen.
When you think about how much happens in our lives over eighteen years it's mind-boggling. Our kids grew from infants to college, I think we've had three presidents, MTV stopped playing videos, cell phones are now postage stamps instead of bricks and TVs are flat as stamps!! Raise your hand if you remember how exciting seeing your first big screen TV was!!
Noodle the Wonder Wiener was there through it all, most importantly the passing of both of my grandparents and my favorite great-aunt and uncle. . . . Here I go again, making myself all weepy.
Losing Noodle was crazy hard on my mom. I think if she'd had her way, she'd have gotten a puppy right away, but my parents do a lot of traveling and Dad put the kabash on getting another dog.
Fast forward more than a few months and Dad is out riding his Harley--yes, you read right!! Mom loathes it, as the helmet musses her hair, but she does have all the latest Harley fashions that she sported for Fayetteville's Bikes, Barbecue & Blues. (I cannot keep that name straight, so sorry if I got it wrong.) Anyway, Dad's on his bike and sees this little dog weaving out of the weeds on the side of a country road.
He was in a fairly desolate area, and since it looked like a dachshund, he got off his bike to investigate. Sure enough, he'd found a starving, dirt-covered wiener!! Mom reports her being skin and bones, but still wriggling and kissing in true dachshund style. They asked all over Farmington if anyone had reported losing a dog, then took her to a vet for a check-up and to see if she had an ID chip (those weren't around when Noodle was born, either!). With no chip and my mother already in love, the vet urged them to give the dog a new home.
Mom called to discuss names and decided the usual Heidi and Pretzel wouldn't do. Dad refused to stand in the front yard in his robe yelling for Cupcake or Cutie so I suggested they name her something that told the story of how they found her. A few hours later, Mom called back and made the formal announcement that our new family member shall be christened Gypsy!!
Welcome anyone to your family lately?
3 comments:
We haven't added to our family recently, but I love the story about your dad finding the puppy. My son and daughter-in-law found a tiny kitten once the same way. They named it Edsel. I'm still not sure why, but it fit. Our dog is getting pretty old also, but for now, he's enough for me. I tell myself when he's gone, I won't get another pet, but even I don't believe me. Enjoy.
We had one dog from a puppy born the same day as my son and who died 18 years later 2 weeks after ds graduated from high school. Last Halloween we got a one eyed rescued dog - part Border Collie part Spaniel. She is pretty much the princess here now and hangs with the Prince (grandbaby) who shares all his treats and veggies.
Sweet pea has gorgeous eyes. Love the story of how your dad found the dog.
We have a doe with a broken leg we've been feeding. I thought she would die from infection, but she
she's still here (in our wooded backyard)and has a baby. Poor thing looks pitiful lunging around, but she has food and water.
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