Today
we celebrate Tillie, a dog I never met, or even barked at on the
Internet. She was a Lhaso Apso owned by Auntie Bev and without her
there would be no tails to tell.
On
Saturday morning our Auntie Bev passed away, She was one of the most
important people in our lives, and, without knowing it, changed lives
throughout the world.
In
1996 Mommy and Daddy had been married for two years. During that time
Daddy would ask the same question: “Can we get a dog?” and Mommy would
give the same answer “No way.”
Mommy
said she was not a “dog person.” The only dog she had become close to
was one who showed up in her driveway before she married Daddy. She was
a small Shih Tzu and, when she saw Mommy, she stood on her back legs
and twirled. Mommy giggled. She picked the puppy up and checked for
tags but there was no sign of an owner. She reported the lost dog to
Animal Control and the Police but no one stepped forward to claim him
for two days. On the third day, after Mommy had come to enjoy the puppy
on her lap and the sweet kisses, the pup’s family tracked her down
leaving Mommy very sad.
Shortly
after Mommy and Daddy got married they got a cat, Gizmo, who they
called Mr Mean. He never sat with Mommy, bit her, attacked family
members and was a terrible grouch. Mommy mentioned one days she would
like a lap dog for company. Daddy immediately thought of Aunt Bev’s
dog Tillie and said he would introduce Mommy to Tillie the next day.
Unfortunately
Tillie had gone to the Bridge the summer before but Aunt Bev told Mommy
that us little dogs were no work. She said we barely ever barked, were
easily house trained, weren’t stubborn at all, and Mommy wouldn’t even
notice us. Loving her nephew very much Auntie Bev basically lied her
ass of for him.
Mommy
said she would consider getting a dog and Daddy didn’t let a blade of
grass grow under him. He was investigating the want ads the next day
and before ]sunset Blake Bear was a member of the family. A few years
later, after Gizmo ate an entire Glad large trash bag and went to the
Bridge, they decided to add another dog who they named Foley, and later
gave the last name Monster because of my unruly hair and big ears.
And
from that day forward, every time Mommy and Daddy got a new pup, they
were at Aunt Bev’s who, her body wracked by arthritis and unable to take
care of a dog on her own, enjoyed each doggy Mom owned including
Pocket, who was the last dog Mommy and Daddy introduced to her.
After
her husband, Uncle Bob, passed away, Daddy spent an hour a week with
Auntie Bev and he learned so much from her, which he passed on to us.
Her arthritis became worse and soon she had a fall which put her in the
hospital and then a nursing home. We visited her several times there
until her mind, like her body, began to give out before her heart until
that too finally beat it’s last and she passed on to the Bridge to be
reunited with her beloved husband Uncle Bob, Tillie, and all the dogs
who came before Tillie.
When
the day comes for me to go to the Bridge I know Auntie Bev will be
there to meet me and both of us will be young again and we will get to
play like we never got to on this Earthly realm because we will be
young, strong, and fast again. I will tell her my stories and she will
tell me hers and I will finally get to meet Tillie.
Auntie
Bev never knew how many lives she touched, because without her there
would be no me, and without me my Mommy would not have found so many
wonderful friends on the Internet, there would be no Tanner Brigade, DS
would be a different place, dogs would go unrepresented in a court of
law, Hobo may never have written his book.
So
thank you Tillie for being a wonderful dog who inspired Auntie Bev to
convince Mommy to get a dog, which led to a blog, to great friends, to a
wonderful social network, and so many good friends and good times.
And thank you Auntie Bev for my life.
