sunshine0221's Diaryland Diary
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True Love
True Love
Sunshine has been gone almost two months now. I miss his wags and whines and kisses. I miss having someone completely thrilled to see me every time I come home. I miss his cuteness, his stubbornness. I miss him.
I got Sunshine around fifteen years ago. Was thinking about maybe wanting a dog. Had come to the realization that if I waited until my life was perfect, in order, and dog-ready to get a dog, I would be too old to walk the poor critter.
Really was window shopping. Went to the vet clinic where they keep the dogs that get arrested. They had five or six dogs. Sunshine was in a cage with a giant beagle. Sun looked awful � was filthy dirty and covered with fleas and ticks. As I was saying hi to him, one of the vet assistants came over and said, �Let me know if you want him. We�re putting him to sleep in the morning.�
That did it. Goodbye window shopping, hello dog ownership.
Brought Sunshine home the next day and discovered that he cleaned up gorgeous.
And is the stubbornest, lovingingest, justdarncutest, person I have ever met.
Sun loved everyone except mailmen and UPS trucks. He was friendly to everyone. If he saw an open car door he�d jump in. He loved rides in cars.
I took him to a party at a friend�s house. Totally boring until Sun arrived. And started chasing the kittens. (Note: no kittens were harmed in the filming of this blog � I don�t think Sun ever caught anything except a dead mouse). It was like a scene from a cartoon. He chased the kittens behind the barn, We all heard a yelp, and then he appeared, running at full speed, being pursued by a very ticked off mama cat.
Sunshine actually had lots of kitty friends. Including a baby cougar named Tiger. They were best buddies, and it was funny to see Tiger growing bigger and bigger and Sunshine still completely unintimidated by him.
Ginger, the world�s cutest poodle, came along a few years later. She lived down the street. She had been badly abused by her previous owners, and was neglected by her current ones. She lived under a truck in their back yard. And she fell in love with Sunshine. She�d follow us when we went on walks. She stole Sun�s bones, one by one, from the front yard and took them to hers. She�d sit on our front porch when it rained.
On one cold rainy early Spring day, after lots of encouragement, she came in the house. I fed her some of Sunshine�s food. She loved it once she figured out how to eat it.
About the time Ginger was in our house more than out, and I was starting to wonder what the penalty was for dognapping, her owners asked if we wanted to keep her!
A month later Ginger let me pet her. She transformed into a loving, snuggly poodle. I can still remember the first time I saw her happy. She never completely got over her fear of people, but it got much better as the years went on.
One of my favorite Gingie stories: I had bought a case of fresh peaches and left them in the living room. Noticed that Ginge was being really quiet. Went in to check, and she had taken one bite out of almost every one of the peaches.
Had to be careful with her tummy. She�d get pancreatitis when she�s get into the trash, or anything that she shouldn�t be eating. Then she got really sick and the vet diagnosed diabetes. The last year of her life she needed insulin shots every 12 hours. And she was an angel about it.
Gingie went to Heaven two years ago in March. I buried her in the back yard, and planted daylilies and forsythia around her grave.
Buffy arrived around 8 months ago. Stray cat. Showed up at the door meowing. I held Sunshine the first few times she showed up, not sure how Buffy would react to him.
When I did finally put Sun down, Buffy threw herself on him and started purring. Love at first sight.
By this time Sun�s balance was not good, he was sixteen, and his doggy friends accidentally knocked him over a lot. Buffy was the perfect companion for him. She snuggled with him, gave him baths, and was a real friend to him. They shared their food and water and slept together.
I am not a cat person. But who could resist a kitty who was taking such good care of Sun?
It makes me sad that I can�t remember Sun being able to go up and down stairs by himself, that I can barely remember what Gingie�s fur felt like. I miss having a doggie bed in every room and doggie toys everywhere.
We all miss Sunshine. I put his sheepskin bed on top of the radiator and Buffy sleeps on it now. Buffy and I snuggle at night, and try not to notice that there is an empty space in the bed.
Sunshine is buried next to Ginger in the back yard. I�ll plant flowers for him too.
Sunshine and Ginge � I hope you guys are together again. I hope you have a beautiful place to run and play, and all the food you can eat. Gingie � I hope you aren�t afraid any more, and that your tummy always feels good, and that you have a swimming pool in case it gets too hot. And Sunshine, I hope you never have to be fenced in and get lots of car rides. And I hope you guys know how much I love and miss you.
10:46 p.m. - May 15, 2002
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