Tommy Tunes is our August 31, 2014 Pup of the Week

On Thursday I got a message that a new pup was arriving at the Bridge..  I went to my spot at the top of the stairs and looked down waiting for somepup to start climbing.  Then the wind began to blow, the ground shook under my feet, birds flew out of the trees, the Bridge itself swung like it was caught in a mighty breeze. Then I heard the cries from the mortal side, like thunder in the distant, but high pitched, and mourning.  “No?” “Why?”  “Please don’t let it be true!”   I did not know what had happened, but I knew that something big had been moved.

I went into the crouch position I used when scared.  When I arose I felt a paw on my shoulder and looked up to see the big thing that had been moved:  Tommy Tunes.  I don’t know why, because he was with me, and what had happened to him had happened to me, but I burst into tears, for him, for his Dad Steve, for everyone on the mortal side of the Bridge.  They had lost something big indeed.

Tommy patted me on the head.  “It’s OK Foley.  I know there is great sadness on the mortal side.   I know my Dad’s heart is broken.  So is mine.  But we all have only so many heartbeats, and I got more than anyone I know.  I was blessed with so much time with my Dad.  Everyday I got up and thanked the Big Guy that I was the luckiest dog on the face of the Earth with the best Dad and the best friends.  Now that it is over I have many friends here.”

I told him I hadn’t noticed him climbing the stairs.  “Oh I didn’t have to.  A hand picked my up and carried me here.”  I had never heard of such a thing.  But then I remember.  He was Tommy Tunes.  He and his Dad were always the first:  The first friend a dog had on DS, the first with a kind word to a sick pup, our first laugh of the day, the first with a tribute to a dog who had passed over.  He deserved special treatment.

I told him I needed to swear him in but he said it wasn’t necessary.  When you are a dog as well known for his good deeds as he was there is no swearing in process.  Of course I was sworn in, but that’s cool.  Tommy did so much.

I hope the people who run DS know that.   Tommy was exclusively on DS.  No Facebook, Tanner Brigade, or any other site.  He was like Streisand playing Vegas.  You wanted to see him you needed to go to one place:  DS.  As someone said before he was Doggyspace.   More than Zuckerberg is Facebook.  The biggest reason to check DS everyday is now on the immortal side  of life.  (Then again I have been here for 14 months and written more than John Grisham in that time.)

I told Tommy that the next step was for him to get fitted for his wings.  Suddenly they popped out of his back.  “No fitting needed,” he said.  “They said they have had them ready for years.  They are outlined with gold because of the wonderful love I shared on Earth, how are your wings?”  I tucked my plain wings further behind me and smiled, then changed the subject telling him we should go to his cloud.

We both flew up to it.  I had never seen a first time angel fly so gracefully.  He was headed to the biggest cloud in the sky. I tried to catch up to tell him those were off limits, but he flew through the cloud and into the most expansive mansion I had ever seen.  I landed next to him.  “Tommy, I don’t think we should be here,” I said.

Then I saw the big oil painting of him and his father over the mantle and I knew he was in the right place.  My claws tapped on the marble floor.  I rubbed against the silk curtains.  Tommy went around the corner and said “cool” then came back with some freshly popped pop corn.  He gave me some.  “How big is your pop corn popper?” he asked.

“Oh big, real big,” I said nodding.  Actually it was a microwave I got at Sears.  On the opposite wall from the painting was the largest wide screen television I had ever seen. Before he became engrossed watching something I suggested we go down to the river, look in the waves, and watch his Dad and Freddie Girl.

“Oh I don’t need to do that,” he said.  He nosed the remote and turned on the TV.  A live view of his Dad sitting with Freddie Girl came on.  Tommy sighed deeply and put his head between his paws.  A slight tear fell from his eye.  It was very moving but I could not get past my jealousy that I had a small screen TV and had to go down to the river to see my loved ones in the waves.

Then I heard his doorbell.  It sounded like church bells ringing.  I didn’t move to answer.  There must be a butler.  But no one came and I told Tommy I would get the door.   When I answered it I felt like such a fool.  This was why Tommy lived in the most special place at the Bridge with so many privileges, this is why his Dad will join him here someday, this was why he deserved all the rewards he had received and more.

It was Gina Busch and Pepsi.  For those who don’t know Gina was Freddie Girl’s first Mom who crossed the river after getting cancer (Pepsi had preceded her a few weeks earlier.)  Gina ran across the marble floor to the couch where she kissed Tommy over and over again, thanking him for saving Freddie Girl, and Pepsi, who gave me a lick (we see each other almost every day) went over and gave Tommy a big hug too. Then the three of them sat on the couch eating pop corn and watching Freddie Girl and Steve on the wide screen TV.

I no longer felt any jealousy over Tommy’s reward.  He deserved all of it, and more, for Freddie, for friendship, for love, for humor, for caring, for being a brother to a thousand dogs.  I slipped out of the house and went back to my modest, clean, well lit cloud, pulled out my decree pad and did something not even Tommy could do.  I wrote out an order that all humans must follow,

Tomorrow, on DS, I am creating a group called the DS Hall of Fame and the first dog inducted will be Tommy Tunes.  I will let the humans work out how they want to nominate and vote on other members but I ask that they let time pass first.  Tommy should be the only member for a few months.  It is only fitting, because he was the Babe Ruth, the Beatles, Michael Jordan, and Joe Montana of DS, all rolled into one..

Simply the best.

“Beautiful Reward” by Bruce Spingsteen

Well I sought gold and diamond rings

My own drug to ease the pain that living brings

Walked from the mountain to the valley floor

Searching for my beautiful reward

Searching for my beautiful reward

From a house on a hill a sacred light shines

I walk through these rooms but none of them are mine

Down empty hallways I went from door to door

Searching for my beautiful reward

Searching for my beautiful reward

Well your hair shone in the sun

I was so high I was the lucky one

Then I came crashing down like a drunk on a barroom floor

Searching for my beautiful reward

Searching for my beautiful reward

Tonight I can feel the cold wind at my back

I'm flyin' high over gray fields my feathers long and black

Down along the river's silent edge I soar

Searching for my beautiful reward

Searching for my beautiful reward