The limits of love

Paige is letting her Poodle on the bed with her. This is the first time since Thursday last week.

I hope this is funny, we all think it is. For the uninitiated, in August 02 our Basenji died and Paige asked for a Poodle. No problem, Paige had the name already picked, we were all excited. But we had just sold our house and were headed for a Hotel for 3 months; our house sold and we had an 8-day escrow, crazy but the buyers wanted it that way. The house we were buying wouldn't be available until mid December, our sellers wanted it that way, so off to the Summerfield Suites we went. We didn't buy a Poodle, we negotiated a March delivery ( with Paige, she's being raised to know her own mind, for situations like this we discuss things! ) when breeders said puppies would be available again. February rolls around and Paige is diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma. No pets; Chemo, in the Hospital so much, yada, yada.

A year goes by, and along comes March 04, I had already had a breeder picked, but a puppy wouldn't be available until late April. Rosie and I are hesitant because as luck has it Paige has an unbelievable number of false positive relapses going to Aug 04, then she really does relapse. It's March, and along comes cousin Kimmie and Nana, we find another breeder that has a puppy ready to go. The breeder has plenty of offers but when she hears about Paige she turns down $800.00 offers and let's us have the last one for a big discount, the breeder insisted on the discount. Now our luck is changing, not for lack of prayer! So the puppy comes home.

Behind this story are a trip to Crescent City Ca in say Feb 02, and a house overlooking the beach. A very close friend invites us up for a visit to show off her new home. What turns out to be a wonderful visit gets even better when a worker at the house has a small white Poodle named Cottontail. Paige is in love. Amazing, the dog knew tricks and was obedient. If you don't know , Basenji's have the characteristics of a cat. Paige talks non-stop about getting a Poodle and naming it Poodle Cottontail. This goes on for months. When Smokii dies, Paige doesn't shed a tear, the cogs begin to turn. Within a day or so, Paige announces that since Smokii was mine, and the previous Baseni (Kazors Naturally Nick ) was Rosie's, it's her turn for a dog. August 02, she is about 3 5/8's at this point. Paige is very independent, and is quite confident. Rosie has raised a very special little girl. Paige is our universe.

Rosie and I took positions at new Companies in Nov/Dec 02, we both were still overwhelmed with new jobs and a new house. I'm not complaining, I really love the little guy. By now I wonder why we didn't buy Poodles instead of "CAT" dogs. Because we love her so much, Paige did get her poodle. I "assisted" Paige in the puppies training ( she was 5 1/2 then, it was like training 2 puppies-heh, heh). Nana has spoiled Poodah ( her nickname) like another grand child. But now he sits with a depressed look, you could even say he is sulking around. We all believe Poodle Cottontail is aware of the future, and is grieving the upcoming loss. It's hard to muster the emotional energy to cheer up Poodah.