1991 —– Dec. 30 2001
Dog
She was just a little mutt and not very pretty to some
but to me she was too wonderful for words to describe.
My mother-in-law’s dog had a litter of pups about 10 years ago
and my niece who was three at the time had given them all names.
“Felicia” was the only one not given away and
she was the runt so nobody wanted her.
My wife and son decided to adopt her
and we changed the spelling of her name to “Flea-Sha”.
In the years we had her I came to love “Flea” as much as I had ever loved any pet
and it didn’t take long for me to realize
that she was the best dog I had ever had.
One of my favorite memories of Flea is
how she could jump up and snatch a cookie out of my mouth.
I would tell her “Give me a kiss!” and
she would jump and get the cookie.
She could also catch a cracker in mid-air from fifteen feet away.
She was also notorious for climbing up onto the kitchen table
when we were out of the kitchen.
It was a bad thing for her to do
but it was so funny to see that we never got mad.
Flea was able to shred a tube sock in a matter of minutes
and I used to pick up the sock and
she would hang on by her teeth
still shaking the sock to death in mid-air.
In another incident Flea got loose and killed a neighbor’s chicken.
She never got caught and as much as she was scolded
I was secretly proud of her for being such a mighty hunter.
The chicken was almost as big as she was.
As hyperactive and even violent as terriers can be
Flea had her quiet moments too
keeping our feet warm at night sitting on laps in front of the tv
and kissing the baby.
Our friend Flea left us today after being unable to recover from surgery.
We were all saddened by her leaving us and will remember her forever.
There have been times that she was the only one
in the whole world that could cheer me up
and I will be indebted to her forever for being
such a good and loyal friend.
Pets never lie cheat talk about us behind our backs
or do any of the bad thins that people do.
They love us unconditionally regardless of race creed or religion.
They always are happy to see us no matter what kind of day they had.
If people were more like our pets
the world would be a much better place.
I miss you Flea and hope to see you again someday.
Charles
| Flea |