Where you take over and I put my feet up – although not today since I’ll be in the neighborhood parade. Happy 4th, everybody! And now over to Big Tiny’s Mom, for this excellent contribution. (Send anything about anything to peter.b.abrahams@gmail.com.)
The Story of Sapphire
I was born in the early 50s when life seemed much simpler. The youngest of four children, my early childhood involved an outdoor dog named Blackie (probably for the same reason I currently have a fur baby named Gray) and outdoor cats that would have litters of kittens. This was considered normal in my small town. Most people did not bother with spaying and neutering their pets. My mom had grown up on a farm in Nebraska and animals were expected to “pull their weight” in whatever way was needed (killing mice in barns, for example). Dad never had any pets growing up and he was forever frustrated by the outdoor animals in his garage and yard. At some point, Blackie crossed the Rainbow Bridge and the family had been dogless for some time.
When I was around 10 or 11, I went to the neighborhood grocery store and found a very small black puppy hiding among the empty boxes outside. I promptly loaded that puppy in my jacket pocket and took it home. “Look, Mom, what followed me home from Klecka’s! And it’s a boy puppy!” I exclaimed upon getting home. Mom’s response was “sure, it did and no, it’s not.” But something in that tiny black puppy spoke to both my parents and the puppy was, indeed, home to stay. And not as an outdoor pet. She was the family’s first indoor pet and Dad’s first pet love. She would sit beside him after he got home from work and read the daily newspaper. He walked her in the evenings (no fenced in yard) and she became his. He took early retirement from his job at a chemical plant and took correspondence courses to get another degree in accounting. Sapphire would sit at his feet while he studied and aggravate him by following him on his bathroom breaks and sit outside the door and cry for him.
I left for college and a guy I dated owned a dachshund that had puppies. So, of course, I brought home another puppy (although this time with parental permission). Barney became Mom’s dog and Sapphire’s best friend. Those two dogs got to go on vacations with their people and lived the best life. They rode with us when my parents and future husband took me back to college after summer breaks. Hotels had to be pet friendly.
There was about an 8 or 9 year age difference between Sapphire and Barney that kept Sapphire young at heart. One summer, Dad was home alone with the dogs (Mom had taken a trip to Nebraska to visit her folks) and Sapphire suddenly died. He called me, who lived the closest to them at the time. I was able to go help him bury her and keep him company for a while.
It has always amazed me how special Sapphire was to the man who had never expected that bond with a pet. Until both my parents passed, there was at least one small dog living the good life with them.
9 Comments on “Phriday Photos”
Greetings!
What a wonderful story about Sapphire and Barney, and I love the photos you included! Thanks, Big Tiny’s Mom for sharing it with us. :^)
A happy and safe Independence Day to all!
Happy 4th, friends!!!
You get to be IN the parade? Are you Grand Marshall? Do you get to ride on a float or in a really cool vintage car? Tell us more!
I LOVE this story.
In that first photo you can just sense Sapphire’s love for your Dad. And I totally get his love for her. After Cuppy and Mitzi died my parents didn’t have any dogs for almost 40 years until they took Goliath in for his “retirement”. My Dad bonded with Goliath pretty quickly and Goliath would also sit by him as he read the paper. Even though after Goliath passed he didn’t want another dog when we brought over Candy as a puppy she stole his heart within 30 min. She was his dog for almost 14 years. And now he dotes on Dolly. For our dogs it isn’t the chair reading the paper, it is sitting right next to him at the kitchen table. And my Dad was also the dog walker, every night, same route. All inside dogs of course, since Mitzi was born. Their “job” was to eat table scraps so they “wouldn’t go to waste”.
You can just see her personality shine through those photos. I think she was hiding outside of Klecka’s, watching people and making her choices and she chose YOU. In a time when most dogs had simple chain “choke” collars both Sapphire and Barney had fancy leather jeweled collars. And there is nothing like a puppy to bring out the youth in an older dog. While Barney looks a bit lay back, stoic even, Sapphire is always smiling and wearing her delight on her sleeve, if she had sleeves.
Good life indeed. They lived their best lives.
I do have two questions.
Do you remember how Sapphire got her name?
And will we be getting the story of Barney, a bit more? I’ll bet there is a little bit more to his story too. And maybe an agragate of some of the other small dogs whose personalities stand out in your memory?
I seem to recall, you’ve mentioned some cats we haven’t heard about also.
I don’t think I’ve done Candy or Dolly so I will have to get on that too.
ML, according to my brother, Sapphire had a white star on her chest. And my parents wanted a more special name than Star. Sapphire was probably my mom’s suggestion.
Cool. There are star sapphires and white sapphires.
What an incredibly heartwarming love story all around. Thanks, Karen, for sharing. As regards the photos, I can make a guess on the second one as to which one is you and I presume you are featured in the third one as well, but more info would be appreciated. As to Sapphire and Barney, clearly BFF’s and sharing in the good life the way it was always intended to be.
I am the one on the right holding Sapphire. I think I was in 8th grade (judging by the bangs). And that is me with Truman and the dogs. He was not the guy I was dating when Barney came to live with us, but he and Barney got along great.
Karen. Thanks. Those are some awesome bangs. And the picture of you and Truman (and the dogs too) is very nice and special.
Karen, than you so very much for this story and the accompanying photos! Pets can surely change anyone’s mind about furry love!! Those were very special days, no?