Gracie 1999-2013
Gracie
My earliest
memories in the family mostly include dogs in the mix, all loved and most treated
as pert near equals in the household. We heard about Stormy the spaniel, then Fritz the doberman and we
knew Pretzel, the first dachsund leading to Hansel and Gretel who stayed on into the 1960’s when the reign of
poodles began. This love of dogs never wavered over five, then six decades with
the branches of the family tree emulating Mom and Dad. Pets always brought joy
and love to every child, grandchild and even great-grandchild in the
family. Every celebration in our
extended tribe has almost always included a beloved pet and in particular a
dog that played a major role in the fun. There were Dachsunds, Poodles, a Beagle, Airedales, Cocker Spaniels,
Shih-Tzus, a Golden Retriever and the mutts named Freddie and Tickets who made
us laugh and caused us to cry when their time came to leave. Other families
followed suit: there was Maniac, Daisy, Missy, Scruffy, Tuffy, Buck, Bandit, Mae, Napoleon, Zeka, Dodger, Slippers, Macy,
Fido, Rocky, Bella, Peewee, Jadie, and many more that were loved and loved us
back. Some of us turned down a shady street and took up with cats but the
devotion was similar, just more one-sided.
Yet, no animal
touched the entire family like Gracie (sometimes pronounced Gwacie), the once full-figured dachshund who sat
by my Mom’s side dutifully through her worst times and then moved on to
Colorado for a wonderful retirement where she was showered with love by a
family who was steeped in dog adoration. Gracie had a face you could hardly say
no to and in her Long Beach life she rarely heard the word. She was fed treats
for her one simple trick, the balancing of her large wiener dog frame upright to beg with bent paws until liv-a-snaps
were produced and shoveled into her sweet mouth. Gracie was gentle, loyal and
sweet; the best characteristics you could ask for in a dog. What made her so
extra-special in light of her place among a hundred other dogs was that she
carried my Mom’s kindness and love forward after she had left us behind. The
old “kids” could hardly look upon Gracie without tearing up since she
represented so thoroughly our Mom and such was the case for the grandkids and
great-grandkids. Gracie had her life extended by loving care and despite illness
and eventual blindness she had a great life, one that was given bonus time by the
addition of Bella to her last days. It might have been slightly embarrassing
that when I visited those loved ones in Colorado it was Gracie I longed to meet
again right along with my blood kin. She will always be remembered as shining a
light where one had gone out and will be loved in a special way by our entire
family. If old Gracie is to journey on to Rainbow Bridge I have a pretty good
idea who is waiting for her, treats in hand.
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