Mothers Day,1996

I sat having my morning coffee. Enjoying the quiet and thinking about my daughters,and how they were being bombarded with hugs,I love yous and hand made gifts from their boys. They were mothers now, and I was so proud of the women they had grown to be.

I had raised them alone, and had a thousand times thought "is anything I say to them sinking in"!!?? Yes, somehow it had; and I smiled to myself.
Then wondered, "how many times will they think the same thing over the years to come"? That made me laugh. I should remind them to drop a nickle in a jar every time they think that;and when the boys are grown and gone; we'll take a cruise! That, made me laugh harder.

I knew they would be at the house soon, and the quiet would be filled with quick hugs and babbled "happy mothers day Neeny,and can I haves, and stop hitting me"!!! Brothers seem to punch and tease a lot. And six boys together are.........well; a mini wrestling match with no winners.


Suddenly my front door opens just a bit and I look toward it and see a tiny ball of brown fur not much bigger than a dust bunny!! It waddled toward me
and the tiny black dots of eyes peeked over a smushed in nose and the bark was barely loud enough to hear. The door burst open and a loud HAPPY MOTHERS DAY NEENY resounded in my livingroom! They all poured into the room declaring " we got you a neese puppy like you always wanted"!

I picked the fluffy wiggling puppy up and instantly my heart melted. A teeny pink tongue flicked out to kiss my nose and a squeaky yip to say hello.
I had always wanted a pekingnese dog. And here was my dream puppy. I cried.

She fit in my hands and hardly filled them up. More fluff than pup. And thought she was a big dog as she attacked my feet or a shadow on the floor.
And she wasn't just a regular street puppy; this little princess had papers. She was registered with the AKC(American Kennel Club) and I had papers on her lineage. WOW, I knew what this gift had to have cost my girls.

On the registration papers I had to name her and send them in. After watching her yip at anything that moved I knew her name. She was then dubbed
"Sassy Ling-Poo Love Bug Marslender"; such a big name for a tiny baby. She was then my sassy-poo. Such a great joy in days to come.

She grew, but not a lot; and kept her sense of "big dog" and adopted an attitude of 'i'll do what I want,not what you say". She loved defying me and we tussled back and forth a lot. But at the end of the day as she sat with me watching tv; we were just mom and pup; getting and giving joy,and love.

As she grew she developed a very bad flea allergy, that caused her to chew her fur, and secrete oil that was very stinky. So I had to bathe her about every other day; and even that didn't remove the odor. So she became known as "stinky-dink". And she didn't like that name, and would just yip and growl when the kids called her that, and attack their feet as they ran laughing at her.

She was soothing company for me in a very hard time, in spite of her problem, I loved my poo puppy. She never became a mother; due to her allergies I chose not to breed her. She grew into a very loving old maid;and her yipping bark came to sound like 2 rocks grinding together; very funny in itself.

June 2008.
My poo puppy has grown old, gray fur surrounds her muzzle and one eye has glazed over and the sight is gone. The hearing responds only to a high pitched call to come eat. She sleeps on her bed behind my chair (where it has always been) and her steady scratching and snorting is a part of my every day. She waddles around slower and has developed a cough that concerns me a bit; but the vet says it happens with her breed and to give her some medicine to soothe her.

June, 3rd; she goes outside for her daily walk around the yard. She has a special spot under a huge cedar tree that is dug out and she rolls in the dirt and groans little sounds of "oooo feels so good".
It's supper time and I open the door to let her in; she always comes up on the porch after her stroll and sits in the sun on her bed.

She isn't there; so I call her. Perhaps she is strolling the back yard in the late afternoon sun. A couple of hours pass and I open the door again; still not there. I'm not too concerned, she has done this before and always finds her way to the porch. She has an acre of yard to wander in and often stays out longer.

Bedtime and no sign of her. Michael tells me not to worry; she knows where her bed is. We go to bed.

June 10th; All hope is gone,she's too old to have survived this long.

Sassy-Ling-Poo Love Bug is gone. My poo baby has not returned home, the neighbors have not seen her, animal control does not have her.
My heart is broken; and I continue to open the door and call her name. Sassssyyyyy, Sasssyyyy; silence. No more thumping from her bed behind my chair;no more "stinky-dink".

I pray she is resting in peace, free from pain. I loved my poo puppy. Sassy-Ling-Poo Love Bug I will miss you; I love you.
_________________
You can't have a "testimony"
without a "test".