Margaret was such a friend that I, or rather my dog, tested. We worked together many years but were more than co-workers. Her family enfolded me and I guess it was sort of a group friendship. I adored her boys and her husband and I had a warm,comfortable relationship. We had one of those easy forms,till one day.
BG ( short for Big Guy) was an albino Great Dane that my sister surprised me with one day. I was all ready dog-poor but he was such a grand fellow and was handicapped so I had to take him. He had beautiful blue eyes and a pink nose. His handicap was that he was deaf as a post and had poor vision. This made his adoption very difficult.
BG did bring someone very special into my life besides testing Margaret. I did not have many people that contributed money to my rescue cause but when Joan and her husband found out about BG, they sent me money each month to help with the expenses. That support meant more than I can ever say. Joan and I have been friends for a long time now thanks to BG. Joan's husband has passed but she and I stay in touch via the Internet. She is the one that found the ad for me. I digress.
Margaret and her husband became very successful in a private venture so she left our work place and eventually our town. Gosh, I missed her. We kept in touch via phone and she would stop by when in town. This particular day, she stopped by, she was dressed for a business appointment in a smart white pants suit.
I was walking with her back up the driveway to her car, when we stopped to look at the foxes. BG was circling her as we talked. Then he did the dastardly deed. Nonchalantly, he hiked a leg and peed on her expensive, white pants leg. He must have been holding it and a Dane's bladder is pretty gigantic anyway, for he left a long yellow steak on her leg. Neither of us noticed till he was almost done.
I was horrified. Margaret however, instead of railing at me and the dog for such a heinous act, just said in an almost meek voice, "I hope that means he likes me."
I could only assure her that he was actually showing utter disdain or was marking her as his territory. We both hoped for the latter.
She did not get the least angry nor did she accuse me of being a stupid dog owner. She instead, managed to laugh as if it had happened to someone else. The stain did not come out and I am sure the slacks were ruined. Thankfully our friendship was not.
If you can have a giant dog pee on you and you can laugh, you have been tested and passed.
She is a very good friend. I love dogs, but I am not sure I would have been so meek if that had happened to me. You were wonderful to take him in.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is not often that friendships are tested in quite that manner, but how wonderful it is when old friendships can pass those wee* tests, and come up even stronger.
ReplyDelete(*wee: Scottish, as in little you understand!!)
Lovely story, you are a real special person looking after a handicapped dog like BG. We had a very elderly cat for a while that became totally deaf and blind. We had some very happy, and very sad times with her, but I can still see her getting skittish (at age 20 something) and climbing trees for 15 feet or so. Running out of puff, then reversing her climb until her bottom reached the ground again!). Good to hear from you on my blog, I've left a reply to your comment there about quinces. P.
Kenju
ReplyDeleteMargaret emailed me to say that it was no test. After raising 3 boys,a bit of dog pee was nothing. It is all a matter of perspective.
Peter
ReplyDeleteI caught the comment on quinces and found it very informative.Thanks.
When you had the deaf cat, did you still talk to her and call her? I never got over that with BG. I also had a blind cat who was born that way. He was amazing how he adjusted but he was an inside cat.
That must have been something to see your cat backing out of the tree. They keep trying don't they.
Again a great and funny post! Thank you! My kaleidoscope is better than a sleeping pill,isn't it!LOL!
ReplyDeleteI had a dog do that to me at the beach once. I can't remember if I laughed, but I do remember diving into the ocean and washing off. Margaret definitely had a good sense of friendship and perspective.
ReplyDeleteReader wil
ReplyDeleteThanks. That kaleidoscope really was putting me to sleep. Think I will bookmark that post for a relaxation exercise.
robin
At least you were handy to water. Those things are usually only funny when they happen to someone else, preferably a stranger. I had a Doberman do that to me once. He was big enough and bad enough that I let him finish.
You have the most amazing stories, Patti! Love it!
ReplyDeleteHi Patti,
ReplyDeleteRegarding the cat that we had that became deaf and blind. She became deaf and blind over a fairly long period, so was able to adapt to some of it.
We had to be very aware of the cat as she became deaf, and try to let her know that we were near, otherwise she could get a fright. There were certain sounds that she could hear a bit. I would let her smell my hand to let her know she had company. I did keep on chatting to her, I guess you can never be sure what is getting through.
Sadly, when she became totally blind, and completely deaf, she lost all confidence, and we had to make the difficult decision to have the vet come and put her to sleep. However things were pretty good for her whilst one or other of those senses still had a little functionality.
So as not to end on a sad note, I must say that she was the sort of cat that loved playing with grass or string. When her eyesight got bad, she couldn't keep this up, until... I hit on the idea of an old yellow and black striped tow rope that we had for the car. She was so excited when I wriggled this around for her, and had great fun with it.
She's been dead for 3 or 4 years now, and we still miss her.
The ginger cat in the photos on my blog, is a new visitor here, and a real joy to us. He belongs to our neighbour who recently moved out this way. Ginger the cat has his meals over there, and sleeps half the night and some of the day over here. He is very affectionate.
Sorry this comment is over long, it all bubbles up from somewhere sometimes!
Best Wishes, P.
Pat,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much. Don't know if my stories are amazing but the people in them were and are. So glad for the blog so they can spill out of my head.
Peter
Love your comment. You were certainly a good steward to your cat.
Your neighbor's cat must sense that your house is the place to be.