The Other Gift

Much has been said about the events of this week.  The week was supposed to begin with a 5 1/2 hour road trip to pick up hubby's gift, but this had to be postponed by almost two weeks.

In 1994, hubby and I were walking in the mall, probably picking up something for the house we had moved into a couple of months prior and in the window of the mall petstore was an Old English Sheepdog puppy.  We had previously owned another female who didn't respond well to my return to work after taking 6 months maternity leave when our daughter was born.  Unable to retrain her to nondestructive behaviors, we reluctantly gave her to a family with kids and a stay at home mom who had prior OES's in her life.  This little ball of fluff drew us in, just as she was supposed to and we left with pup, kennel, bowls, brushes and the other paraphenalia that goes with dog ownership.  She was an AKC pup, but we had no intention of breeding or showing her, she was to be a family pet.  We arrived home after calling the kids to the front yard and turned RagMutt loose on the kids.  Oldest son was indifferent, daughter was in love, youngest son and pup were terrified.  Though, her grooming and vet care fell mostly to me, she was hubby's baby.

She grew much larger than female OES's normally grow and lived way beyond her 9 year life expectancy.  In 2006, I moved to the mountains to my new job and to play a more active role in the construction of our house.  Hubby stayed in Virginia Beach with youngest son, a recent high school graduate, and with RagMutt, who by now was an old lady of 12.  They moved into a ground floor apartment that allowed large pets.  It was another year and a half later that her health and age resulted in the decision to put her down, a decision that produced tears for me in the mountains, but more for hubby in Virginia Beach.

Another year and a half passed and Jim finally retired to the mountains with me and discussions about dogs have occurred sporadically since.  Our postponed road trip is to pick up an apricot male English Mastiff pup, who will be old enough then to take from his litter.  This pup is hubby's Valentine/Anniversary gift.