I moved here in 1974. U-haul, furniture packed to the hilt, a 3 day drive from bustling Chicago. Family arrived 3 days later and it was about 12/20. On the 23rd of December, I found myself at Sky Harbor waiting for flight number 212 to land. Half way through the deplaning process, a rather short, disheveled woman holding a child's hand and carrying a 1 year old walked up to me, kissed me and said, "We made it"! Immediately I recognized these 3 as my family. I hugged the wife and older son and took the baby from her arms. He looked me right in the eye and said, Harvey's house has snow"... This was Brads first sentence ever and he was telling me a story at which point he never stopped talking. Harvey was his grandfather in Chicago. Next he said he wanted Dutchie, Harvey's Doberman who evidently really impressed Brad. I told him we'd get Dutchie and the following day, we did. I answered an ad in the paper and not knowing the area, drove to somewhere in South Phoenix and bought a puppy from a man that was running a puppy mill. We were told that the puppy had had all of it's shots, but within 2 weeks that poor little puppy was dying from distemper. I remember sitting up all night with Dutchie while she cried in pain, waiting for the vet to open where she was immediately put down. Horrible experience. Being young and naive, I still trusted in people and this time we answered an add for a Great Dane puppy and came home with Dutchess #2, a $35 female. At some point we decided to get Dutchess a companion and when I saw an ad for a 1 year old Fawn, Great Dane, I drove to the gentleman's apartment. I vaguely knew the guy from somewhere and we bonded. I bought his Dog, a male Great Dane that could jump up to the ceiling of this little apartment and I could see that the guy really loved the dog, but was getting divorced and needed to sell him. I happily bought Bogie number 1. Bogie and Dutchess got along great. It was love at first sight and eventually gave us 24 puppies in 3 litters. All wonderful, all healthy. Suddenly divorce raised it's ugly head and this time it was our house. After being here in AZ for over 5 years, my wife and I decided to go our separate ways. She went to Chicago with the kids and I stayed here, but in order to sell the house, I needed to get rid of the dogs. I had no choice but to give them away to a family that would keep them together. Shortly after that, Bogie died of a heart attack and Dutchess ran away. The guilt was horrible and I tried everything to locate Dutchess, but no success. Years went by and at some point a girlfriend moved in with me and we bought Bogie number 2, but he was more or less her dog and when we split, he went with her. In 1996, I remarried and wed a lady that had never been married and was without children. I had had a vasectomy by then and she wanted children. After discussing the reversal with my doctor, he convinced me that not only is it unlikely that it would successfully reverse, but it would be very painful, expensive and do I really want to start raising another family at that age? I went home and asked my new wife if she'd like a puppy and along came this Bogie! Bogie is my best friend, confidant, and life partner. He is by far the best Bogie I've ever had and it just kills me to see him age like he has. Oddly, I overheard him say the same thing about me!
Mel
7/21/08
No comments:
Post a Comment