We bought Sunny, a Brittany Spaniel, from a breeder in Montgomery, Alabama. We brought her home with us to live at our home in Biloxi, Mississippi. She loved to play with us, especially when we gave her biscuits and other treats.
Then, in 1996, we moved to Wilmington, Delaware. This is the point at which I begin having consistent memories of Sunny and our other dog, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named Beach Boy.
Sunny Always loved receiving treats. She obviously thought she wasn’t receiving enough and decided to resort to thievery for the rest of her life (though she had performed the act before).
Two of her favorite people are my grandparents. My grandmother would fix lunch for herself and Grandpa, then would leave the (usually) ham sandwiches on their plates and leave to inform my grandfather lunch was ready. When she returned, the sandwiches and Sunny would have mysteriously disappeared.
Then, when I was little, I was grocery shopping with my mom when I spied a package of six cinnamon rolls at the bakery. I begged and she relented. The next morning, I ate one for breakfast. Then, my mother walked me and Beach Boy down to the bus. When she returned, the buns were gone, and a crumb trail led to Sunny sitting in her crate, licking her lips.
A few years later, Sunny pulled off probably her highest-calorie heist. It was Christmas-time. My grandparents came up to spend the holiday with my family. My parents went to an office party and left my sister and me in their care. To pass the time, we made some gingerbread men for the Christmas tree. We proceeded to decorate them with icing and had some icing left over. So we pulled out some Christmas pizelles and finished the icing off. We left them on the counter to dry. Then my sister was to attend a party / sleepover. We all piled in the car, delivered her, pumped up the car tires and headed home. The scene:
a ripped up paper towel.
However, even though Sunny stole food, we didn’t care.
We loved her a lot.
To Sunny with Love,
| Sunny Guillen |
| Robert, Kim, Alex, and Emily Guillen |