I was looking through my feed and saw that Carson over at the 7 MSN hasn't posted since the loss of her beloved dog, Smooch. I didn't post for about 6 weeks after I lost Ripley. I just couldn't talk about it. Or Beauty, or Cali.
I was remembering when our kids were toddlers. We had 2 collies, a brother and sister. BJ, the male, looked like Lassie. Heather, the female, well, she looked like a collie but with German Shepherd tan coloring. She had the long, collie hair, but no white mane. BOTH of our kids would grab onto their fur and toddle along beside them! It was hilarious! They were good dogs. We had BJ for about 11 years and I think maybe he had a stroke one afternoon. My husband was out of town and I was alone with the kids (who were teenagers by then...). He was screaming in pain. I ran to my neighbor's house and she helped me lift him into the back of my pickup and off to the 24 hour emergency pet center I drove. They put him down there. I came home with an empty truck and a bucket full of tears.
Heather we gave to my grandparents. She was an excellent watch dog and she spent the rest of her life with them. She followed my grandfather all over his yard and NEVER let anybody she didn't know into their yard, which was a good thing, because by then they lived on a street with a lot of traffic.Their little, old house and a neighbor's were the only 2 residences left on the street. Their home was torn down just a couple of years ago. I don't think anything is there yet. Oops! I stand corrected. THIS is what is there now: https://www.google.com/maps/place/53+E+Duarte+Rd,+Arcadia,+CA+91006/@34.1299208,-118.0288269,3a,75y,353.95h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sW8buqNpM2vsquBhMSo_Q7g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c2dbd040980b8b:0x52ee970ff24e22f8!8m2!3d34.1300334!4d-118.0288323
My grandfather's victory garden is long gone. The elm tree is gone, as well as his greenhouse. My grandmother's geraniums are gone. All I have are the happy memories of their house. They used to walk down to the corner to buy their eggs. Grandpa grew onions, radishes, rhubarb, turnips, corn, and he even had an avocado tree. They walked me to the bus stop from the time I was in first grade through fifth grade, never missing a day. Now it is I who transports my grandkids from school home or from day care home.
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