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| 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.
