Aged Eighty, And A New Love In My Life…Oh Me
Posted: Saturday, July 16, 2011
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
My wife and I have been married almost 56 years now. I never would have thought that I would have a new love at this stage of the game, but if one knows my background, you’d understand. Even my wife is not shocked and so far, I can detect no sign of jealousy. But this came about after the horrific tornadoes almost cleaned house here in Alabama. It was sad to behold.
Molly was from the Webster’s Chapel area, some 25 miles from us. I had never known of her or even seen her before this. But, as searchers were going through the rubble, they found her and thought she was dead until one of them picked her up and felt her heartbeat and also her breathing. He used his own car to rush her to a veterinarian. She was revived and no serious damage was discovered, so after treatment the searcher took her back and attempted to find her family, to no avail. So, he began to look for someone to take her in.
A young fellow who lived in an apartment complex took her and helped nurse her back to good health and strength. He soon found that he could not keep her since the management would not allow it, so he began to search for someone else to take her. We learned of her and asked to come and see her.
When we arrived, the man went inside and brought her out and it will be some time before I forget the reception we were treated to. This little yellowish blonde, jumped down from the mans arms and made 3 laps around the parking lot at the speed of a hummingbird’s flight. Those little legs were mere blurs as she zipped around the place, then she came back and leaped into my wife’s arms, licking and whining, tail flying and then when handed to me started it all over again. It brought tears to my eyes, which isn’t hard for a dog to do.
Guess what…we took her. My wife held her and sat in the back seat to keep her from causing me to wreck. She wiggled and licked all the way home. We cleaned her up and assigned her to the enclosed back porch, our laundry room, for the night. It then became obvious why the poor fellow could not keep her in an apartment. By morning she had moved everything movable in the room and had eliminated on the floor in several locations.
We have a chain link fence around our back and one side yard, so I drove from one place to another looking for a suitable dog house for her. I finally found one and also bought proper food and bowls for her. It was a toss up as to how she would like being outside when night came but to our delight she seemed to take it well after she had her fill of some good dog food. I lock both gates to our fence with a chain and a padlock because of some burglaries in the past. The next morning when I went to let her out, as I unlocked the gate, I discovered her at my feet trying to get my attention. (It was still pretty dark…I rise early). So I spent the morning looking to see where she might have gotten out.
After putting her back in, I found where she came out…a space about two-three inches between the gate and the gatepost! So I had to buy clamps and clamp a piece of small pipe in the gap on each gate. She’s fine with it now and often lays on top of her house, like Snoopy in Charlie Brown Comics. We found that she has a few fleas, wh ich we are working on, but she has not been spayed, which we will soon get done. The main problem is we don’t know how old she is, whether she has had any shots or what ever. She has now settled in and barks when anything moves out there at night…exactly what I had hoped for.When a dog falls in love with me, especially at first sight, I really get attached to them. It may be that I think I am as special as she does, and that is not good for me to feel that way. And besides, this little sweetie, thinks EVERYBODY is special. I don’t believe she has yet seen a burglar that she didn’t like. But that is o.k. too, All I ask is that she bark before falling in love with them.
We don’t know what breed she is. Her benefactor said the vet surmised that she is part Chihuahua and part Terrier of some type. I can agree with the last part. She has hair that feels somewhat wiry and she also has a small amount of beard on her chin. But it doesn’t matter…she is precious.
Only one thing I’ve found which is incompatible with her and myself. She has nails that feel like tiny needles. My skin has gotten to the point it is almost like tissue paper, it tears so easily. She has my lower arms looking as if I had a fight in the middle of a bramble patch. I can’t pet her that she doesn’t jump up and give me a few more bloody streaks with those unbelievably fast flying little feet. How do you make yourself yell or slap at such a little bundle of love though? It would hurt me more than her to see her slink away with her feelings hurt.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)This is great, Joel. My household adopted a dog that was a refuge from Hurricane Katrina, and it didn't take long until we started to question how we managed before we found him. He was truly mans best friend.
My best to you and Molly.Thanks for the comment Bruce. One of my first memories was a fat dog named Trixie. She had the run of our house and was trained to let someone know when she need to go out. I loved her as much as I did my siblings. And I've had one or more most of the time since. There were times when we were not in a location where we could have one. But they have made my life richer. I've always believed that God gave us dogs to show us what we should be like.
Ahhhh, I am SO happy for you - what a story!Thanks Marijo, I am tickled pink over the little sweetheart. She follows me when I am mowing the grass and keeps catching my pants leg and occasionally jumps up and grabs the seat of my pants. It would be real aggravating if I didn't know that it is either love or concern for my safety. So I just put up with it.
Congratulations, Joel on the new family member! I loved reading your story of how that little pup stole your heart!Lorrie, I thought I had already answered your comment. I'm terribly sorry. I KNOW I tried to, but must have clicked on the wrong button or something and didn't get it saved. But I surely do appreciate your remarks...always.
Joel,
I am so happy for you! Yes, I think you needed a dog and she definitely needed you and your wife. Besides, they say that dogs lower our blood pressure. So to many more happy and healthy years....
Thanks Nancy. Yes, it has been about a year or more since some creep left my gate open and allowed my old friend Mitch to wander away and I never found him. He was very senile, maybe even had dog alzheimers. Poor old boy probably wandered around until he starved or was killed some way. I said then I would not get another dog, but then this little thing showed up. I found later than my gasoline cans were stolen from the outbuilding inside the fence.
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