Journal of a Living Lady #209
Nancy White Kelly
He was a pathetic sight. Ribs protruded from his red, patchy skin. A long ugly scar traveled the length of his pointed nose. Only three-fourths of an ear remained. The jagged edge betrayed a vicious struggle. The other ear had teeth marks. So did his back. And to think he couldn’t be more than a few months old.
Our daughter-in-law, Tori, called to ask if we wanted a stray
“wiener dog.” Buddy brought the phone to me for a decision. Seems this shy, starving
pup showed up in the carport just as she and Charlie were leaving for church. I
had always said my next dog would be a toy red dachshund, but for now we were
happy with our nine-year-old
I did have a dachshund once, but gave him to my father years ago. Solo died not long after my dad passed with cancer. No doubt the dog grieved to death. My sister, Sunnie Anne, got the next dachshund. Scooter lived more than a decade before being put to sleep to end his agonizing back pain. Scooter is buried on my brother’s farm with a real gravestone.
Sunnie Anne mourned for a long time. She eventually got Tango, a spry, spirited, red dachshund puppy. Today Tango shares his domain with two other dogs, two Siamese cats and a cockatiel. I bought the bird for my sister the day we buried our mother.
Charlie and Tori didn’t need this wandering pup. They already have two Golden Retrievers and a stray alley cat that came to stay. Tori’s parents recently took a third elderly retriever that took up residence at their Cornelia home.
Buddy was still holding the phone. “Yes, I want him,” I answered emphatically.
Within the hour, Buddy and a friend headed for Cornelia. By
I don’t believe in accidents. The Bible says in Psalms 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
I wanted. He gave. As I battle my own cancer, God has given me another source of joy and companionship. No doubt Tyson is benefiting from all this too.
