Today I’m just thinking about a funny story from my childhood. I’m a twin, and my sister and I really wanted a dog when we were little. I also have a brother who is a year older than us, so it was pretty fun growing up with the three of us so close in age. I imagine he wanted a dog too, but he didn’t engage in all of my sister and my shenanigans. My parents weren’t real thrilled about the idea of getting us a dog. In fairness, they had 3 kids 18 months apart in age…and they had got us a hamster. But the hamster bit, so we fed him until he ate himself to death. We didn’t exactly have the best track record with pets. Keep in mind, this was the 80’s, long before the internet and such existed, so we still had plenty of time and imagination on our hands. One summer my sister and I decided to prove to our parents that we were responsible enough to take care of a dog. The question was, how to do this. We searched our brains, and the garage, and inspiration hit us. A tire! A lonely tire sitting in the corner represented our dream. We laid out our plan- the tire would be our pretend dog that we would use to show our parents that we could take care of a dog. So, it began. We cleaned that tire up, wiped off all the cobwebs and dust, washed it up and it was clean as new. Then we found some rope to use as a leash, and some bowls to use for food and water. Made it a little bed in the garage. I think we named it, but I can’t remember what we named it. We spent time every day with the tire, played with it, took it on walks around the neighborhood. I think that’s what probably tipped the hand in our favor. I imagine my parents were slightly embarrassed by the fact their daughters were walking a tire, on a leash, around the block. After all, this was back when neighbors spent time with neighbors and talked about the odd children on the street. Back then we didn’t medicate the uniqueness out of kids, we just let them be unique and then talked about them to other neighbors.
It took some time, but eventually fortune smiled on us one day and a little white stray followed some of the older kids home from school one day while we were outside playing. My dad was doing one of his epic, long shifts as an air traffic controller. One of the gruelling long shifts that Regan thanked him and his fellow air traffic controllers for doing by firing them all and banning them from being government employees or air traffic controllers again- but that’s another story. This little white dog was so fluffy and friendly, and he stopped and decided we would be his new home. We ran inside and told my mom about this miracle, but she wasn’t as convinced of divine intervention as we were. Eventually however, she relented and said that we could keep him until my dad got home, and then we had to ask him. Well, that wasn’t promising…my dad isn’t a fan of pets, but it was better than a no! Optimistically, we decided this dog needed a name- we couldn’t just call him dog while we waited another day for dad to get home. What would be the perfect name? What would dad say when we asked him? Again- brilliance struck. Dad would probably say, “Bah Humbug.” when we asked him, so Humbug it was. By the time my dad got home, he had no choice but to let us keep him. And Humbug was the best dog ever. So sweet, and white, and furry…and we took good care of him until his dying day. Over the years my dad came around and loved that little dog too. I think it hurt his heart as bad as ours when the day finally came to put him down. He was blind, could barely hear, but still the sweetest dog ever.
I guess the moral here is, if you want a dog but the answer is no, get a tire. I’m not sure that’s the most useful lesson ever, but maybe someone will be able to use it. That’s all I have for today, so until next time, Peace out. Jen
