Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Monday, December 7, 2015

Puppy Presents

Don't you just want one?!
For over thirty years, our family raised Old English Sheepdogs.
Smart, dependable, protective, gentle and very hairy.
In our opinion, the best breed in the world.
In that time, we placed little balls of fur into many, many homes.
Some stories . . . . stick out in our memories . . .
Our very good friends, a wonderful family of four, were fellow OES aficionados.
They, in particular the father of the family, had unselfishly come to our aid on many occasions.
And we wanted to do something nice for him/them.
Knowing his/their love for ‘sheepies’, I consulted with his sweet wife about the possibility of surprising him with one of our puppies as a Christmas present.   
She was totally on board.
Christmas approached.
The puppies grew.
Finally, they reached the golden age of eight weeks.
It was time.
We loaded our family – and puppy – into the van and headed into the city.
Now, the actual formula . . .
We would present ourselves as a group to the front door of the home and proceed to ‘carol’ them.
Someone in back would hide the puppy until the climactic moment.
You know how, in movies, puppies are given and things turn out perfectly?
Well, sometimes it happens in real life.
We assembled.
Rang the doorbell.
And, when it opened, launched into our specially-adapted version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas:
We wish you a merry Christmas!
We wish you a merry Christmas!
We wish you a merry Christmaaaaas!
And here’s your sheepdog!
The puppy was produced on cue.
Smiles and tears.
Lots of hugs.
And our family faded into the soft, Christmas night.
It was a beautiful, perfect experience.
Sometimes, you have those . . .
The puppy, Alonzo, served and loved his family for a great many years.
But there is one more thing to add.
I’ve been asking my children about their favourite Christmas memories.
And this one tops the list.
Christmas and children and puppies.
They just go together.

11 comments:

  1. That does sound like a sweet memory for your children. Awww.

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  2. Bringing joy to others always creates beautiful memories.

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  3. Such a lovely story. We gave my parents a kitten one year, in a similar manner (although without the singing, because no one can sing in my family :). He was one of the best presents ever!

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  4. Oh God, you made my heart melt with this story Diane! Such a blessing, and the nicest thing to do. xx Abby

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  5. Beautiful. But. Do you have to yank on my heart strings with every post? Sweaty eyeballs here.

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  6. Oh Diane it was the very best Christmas and he was the very best dog you could have ever wished for. I will never forget that night and the special love and joy watching your family carol our family. It emulates the spirit of Christmas in the most loverly way. Maybe some day one of our kid's or Grandkid's will gift so eine with a ."sheepie" for Christmas.

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  7. Oh Diane it was the very best Christmas and he was the very best dog you could have ever wished for. I will never forget that night and the special love and joy watching your family carol our family. It emulates the spirit of Christmas in the most loverly way. Maybe some day one of our kid's or Grandkid's will gift so eine with a ."sheepie" for Christmas.

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  8. What a lovely, thoughtful thing for you and your family to do. I can only imagine that it was one of their favorite Christmases. Giving, it's what Christmas is all about. Thanks for sharing your post at the Over the Moon Link Party.

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  9. I can just see that as you write it - I was waiting for it to be a disaster and I was so relieved when it all went according to plan (and created such happy memories)

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  10. One of my brothers had an OES when I was really little and because it towered over me I was terrified and mom made him find another home. I always felt bad and now I would love to have one. I'm actually trying to get to the shelter this week to get the husband a puppy for Christmas. I hope ours goes as well as yours!

    ReplyDelete

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