Changes

How do you keep track of the changes in your life?  For me, it is easy to learn history because I try to put it in terms of Military Conflict.   Things that have happened in my life is not quite that easy.  Yes, I do have the before Vietnam and after Vietnam time frame but a better one for me is Before Barbara and after Barbara because we were married in 1968 and less than a month later I shipped out.   

One way for me is to put it in terms of the dogs in my life.  Somewhere about when I was 10 years old (Late 1950's) I was given my Dog Rex.  He was a Manchester Terrier/Chihuahua mix with a camouflaged Brindle color.  He was fearless but not too bright.  The one thing he was was "My Dog."  He lived where I lived until I went off to the service in 1966.  I went dog less between then and the time we got Fritzy in 1975.

The deal was that Barbara got a baby and I got a dog.  Things went well until one day shortly after David started walking, Fritzy snapped at Dave.  What been our inside dog became an outside dog overnight.  Fritzy was with us from 1975 until 1984. He died the year after the tornado.  He was a smelly, noisy little schnauzer and wouldn't play fetch.

Shortly after we built our house here at Rabbit Run, my sister was breeding her Golden Retrievers and we picked out the second biggest male from one of the litters.  He was named Moose because he was such a clumsy and big dog.  Somewhere in that same time frame, I rescued an abandoned dog we called Annie.  She was a Black Lab and sweet but stupid. I called her Annie after Little Orphan Annie. Moose was crazy about the game of fetch.  He loved any time we could spend with him throwing anything.  Sticks came easy here in the woods and he always had bright shinny teeth from chewing sticks.  For the next few years, we would replace one of the dogs when they passed on.

Annie went first and I went to the pound and got Baby.  Another female black Lab.  For some reason female black labs aren't into sticks like the males.  We had baby for a few years and when when Moose died, we were given taco by my niece.  We are down to one dog right now, and that door is about to close.  The other day I noticed that Taco was having a tough time getting around.  I thought it was his toenails but now I see that he has a growth on his side that is getting bigger by the day.  It presses his right front leg out and he is having trouble walking .   He doesn't appear to be in pain but getting harder to walk each day.  Soon.

Well, I wonder if there will be another dog in our life?  Probably not but this year 2013 will be the year of the new Nephew in Oklahoma.  Dexter is going to be the new big brother sometime in August.  

Oh well, time goes on and there are changes to our life.  I try to not look at sadness, but smiles that each change has brought into my life.  

MUD