MEECHIE AND ME #43

Today is December 25^th 2010, and I hope you'll forgive me if I digress from "Advice for my Daughters", to record a current event. I would like to tell you about a very special Christmas gift that I received from my daughter Karen, who lives in Napa, California

Let me give you a little background. In 2000, we had a little girl come into our lives. Amelia and I adopted "Garbo", a beautiful white Schnauzer. We were living on Marathon, in the Florida Keys. Her parents lived on a boat tied up at Hawks Cay. She barked so much that they had to put her up for adoption through the Key West S.P.C.A. I happened to be friends with Dr Gwen, the director, and casually mentioned to her, to let me know if the shelter ever received a Schnauzer. Kathy, Karen, and Kirby had a Schnauzer earlier in life and I would like very much to have another one. To my great surprise, two weeks later the SPCA got Garbo, who we quickly adopted. Now you would think a small SPCA in Key West would hardly ever get two Schnauzers, but they did. It took a little longer, but two years later, Gretchen came into our lives. Gretchen had been found running around, chasing chickens in the streets of Key West. When we saw her for the first time, she looked like a street dog. Her fur was all chopped off in places where they had cut out the burrs and pulled out dozens of ticks; she looked like she had been living out of garbage cans for a long time. She was a salt & pepper Schnauzer. Our hesitation about adopting her disappeared when she jumped up in Amelia's lap and gave her a kiss.

We went from a no dog family to a two dog family. Garbo and Gretchen became great friends. It was surprising how beautiful Gretchen became after her hair grew back in and she became part of our family. We often wondered how she became a street dog in Key West. Someone lost her; she was too nice a dog for someone to just turn her out on the street. Perhaps some tourist lost her and had to leave without her. In any event, the SPCA had tried to find the owner without success.

In 2005 Garbo contracted cancer and in spite of Chemo and special care from our Veterinarian, she passed away in 2006. In 2007 Gretchen got cancer; Dr. Jutras, her Vet, tried every treatment possible, but she died in late 2008. I thought that we should try to find another dog. Amelia thought that we were getting too old to go through the trauma of losing another pet. I was 83 yet still felt that another dog would be good for us. I did have to agree with Amelia about the trauma and the costs when they got sick. We both loved and missed our dogs and found ourselves constantly reminding each other about little incidents from the many years we had with Garbo and Gretchen .After all, they had become our children.

On December 22^nd, I answered a knock on the door to find two young ladies standing there. They had a Schnauzer dog with them. I thought that they were probably going door to door to solicit donations for a Christmas fund. They asked if they could come in; I thought that was a little strange, so I asked them why they wanted to come in. I almost went into shock when they said they wanted to come in so they could give me the Dog. Just then Amelia came to the door and recognized the girls as being from the Highland Animal Hospital. I still couldn't believe they wanted to give the little Schnauzer to us. He was beautiful, full of energy; it was jumping up as if to say, "Here I am, I'm your new puppy". I'm not ashamed to say that I cried, and Amelia sobbed. It was like looking at Gretchen's puppy. I think the two girls were touched, too.

My daughter Karen and John, her husband knew that I missed our dogs because I was always talking about them. They decided that they wanted to send us a dog for Christmas. They knew what Gretchen looked like, so they decided to try to find a Salt and Pepper Schnauzer to send us. I understand that they consulted with Kathy and Kirby about sending us a dog. Kathy thought it would be great. Kirby was afraid that Amelia and I may not want another dog. However it was a two to one decision that it would be a great gift. They searched everywhere and finally found just what they wanted, on Craig's List. A young man in Miami had purchased Meechie and only had him a few months when his employment changed; the odd working hours made it impossible for him to keep Meechie. Karen and John contacted the man and made arrangements for him to drive Meechie from Miami to Sebastian, take him to the Highland Animal Hospital for Dr. Jutras to check out and deliver to us. Miami to Sebastian is a six hour trip!

It is now December 25^th and we have had Meechie for four days. Amelia and I argue over who's going to walk him, in spite of the chilly winter weather we are having in Sebastian this year. We have both fallen in love with Meechie and will love him for as long as nature lets us have him. We hope it will be for years and years.