Hi. My name is Johnny Cash! Just kidding, I just love that movie! My name is actually Junior and I am going to be Homeward Bound’s first blogger. Stay with me folks, I’m going to give you a little introduction here.
They say cats have nine lives. I’m on my second one and it doesn’t get any better than this. Two round meals a day, a comfy bed (it’s been getting a little crowded though because I’ve put on a few pounds - maybe I should see that Benny Craig guy.)
I’m back! You know, we older dogs are the best ones to have. Potty trained, a little slower maybe but just pretty much contented and just like to please Of course, we’re not perfect and may have a few issues that happen to us older folks in our Golden Years. Like last night. After dinner, I was laying on the floor next to my dad and I accidently passed a little gas (Mom calls them trouble bubbles). Well it woke Dad right up. It happened again and Dad insisted that Mom put me out in the garage. I don’t get it! It happens to Dad and he doesn’t have to go into the garage. Other than that I’m pretty much trouble -free. I’ve only barked about 5 times since I’ve been here. More like a long Wooooof! The last time was a couple of weeks ago. When Mom and Dad go out to dinner, they always bring me and my sister a piece of their leftover chicken or beef. Well this particular evening they came home empty-handed. I let out a big wooof! like “Where’s the Beef?. Mom said that they had gone to this Italian Restaurant, and that linguini and clam sauce was not on my diet. She gave me this dog biscuit shaped like a bone. You know the kind. I ate it, but it sure wasn’t like a good piece of beef.
Now, my sister has only gotten into trouble once, and it was a good one. We love to go for rides in the car. So, if the weather is cool enough, Mom takes us shopping with her. This particular day, Mom was going to the grocery store to get some stuff to make burritos for dinner. Well she got all the stuff and put the bags in the back of the S.U.V. and we headed home. I saw it happening, but I kept my mouth shut and thought, this is not going to be a good thing. Mom opened the tail gate of the S.U.V. and there sat an empty bag of flour tortillas. Sheba ate the whole bag. All twelve of those flour tortillas! Man, did she get a scolding! Not only that, but she pooped flour tortilla’s for three days!
Gotta go for a walk. I’ll be back later.
I’m back. Mom’s going to get her hair done today. Get rid of that gray stuff. Like I told you before, I’ve gotten a little gray around the nozzle so I asked her if I could go with her. She said no, that I was perfect the way I was.
Every 6 weeks or so, Sheba and I get to go get our nails done. The lady there is really nice but she keeps calling me J.R. My name is not J.R., it is Junior. The only J.R. that I’ve ever heard of was Ewing. I think he was from Dallas but he got shot off.
Mom is walking on the treadmill. You notice that I said walking because she can’t seem to get past that #2 speed. She even puts a towel over the mileage counter because she says it’s like watching grass grow. She’ll probably walk a little extra today, trying to sweat off that pizza she ate last night. I know why she is doing this. She has to go for her annual physical today. She said she doesn’t mind the physical part, it’s getting on that scale that she hates. She said before she steps on that scale, she sets her purse on the floor, takes off her shoes, empties her pockets, removes any hair pins or jewelry and takes off her glasses so she can’t see the bad news.
The other day I went to the grocery store with Mom. She had a new top on that she had just bought. Mom got out of the SUV. to head into the store. I happened to be peeking out the window and I saw it but it was too late to do anything. Right there on the back of her new top was this big long plastic strip that said, “Petite-Xtra Large.” (Now that’s an oxymoron!). Oh man! When she got back to the car, her face was bright red. She said that when she was in the check-out line, some nice gentleman, tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Ma’am, did you know that there was a plastic strip on the back of your top?” She said that she was so embarrassed that she didn’t even stop to get her usual latte’.
I had to calm her down. After all, she had to drive home; I don’t have a driver’s license!!
I said, “You know, Mom, you are just perfect the way you are. We’re not fat. We’re just “fluffy.”
Gotta go now. Mom just got off the treadmill. Today should be interesting. I bet we both get Lean Cuisine for dinner.
Bye for now, my friends, and please don’t forget to check out those Available Goldens - especially those older ones waiting for their forever homes.
Today my mom is taking me to get one of those rattlesnake protection shots. She said it is important because those buggars are out there. Mom already killed one. Chopped his head right off!!! Dad buried his head.
Mom said that some people don’t like to do this but with having so many grandkids coming to visit, she wants to be on the safe side. We had one in our garage last summer and I walked right by it. Sometimes we Goldens can be a little too nonchalant, I guess!
Anyway, I get to see my friends at Slate Creek Animal Hospital. I just love everyone there - Dr. Betsy, Barb. and all the staff.
Sometimes when I am there, I get to visit with other Goldens that have been adopted from Homeward Bound. It’s like our own little social club.
Gotta go now and get that shot. Dr. Betsy is so gentle. I never even feel my shots.
Have a great day and don’t forget, check out those Available Goldens!
Hello my good friends,
Like I told you before, I’m a good listener and mom likes to tell me stories. I quess you have to be pretty old to have all these stories, and boy, has she got a mountain of them.
This happened about three years ago, before I came to my forever home. Their grandson Jack (I guess I would be his uncle), was here for a holiday weekend. They had just sat down for dinner. Grandpa would alway’s ask Jack if he would like to give “thanks” and Jack would alway’s say, “You say it Grandpa.” This time, much to Grandpa’s most pleasant surprise, Jack said,”I’ll say the dinner prayer Grandpa.” Jack had just started kindergarten at St. Patrick’s Catholic School. Grandpa, feeling so proud, bowed his head, as did Grandma . Jack, with head bowed, put his hand over his heart and began,……”I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States Of America, and to the public for which it stands. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Sprite.” Grandpa and Grandma, holding back this enormous giggle, told him how proud they were of him.
That night at bedtime, Grandpa got out the vanilla ice cream for him and Jack, and poured some of that Holy Sprite on top of it. They both slept very peacefully.
If I had lived here then, I would have been lying next to them on the kitchen floor, as we Goldens always do, and I’d still be splitting my gut laughing.
Have a good night’s rest my friends, and don’t forget to check out those Available Goldens. Good night and God bless.
Hello good friends,
I just got home from a trip with Mom and Dad to visit friends on their ranch in Nevada. It was fun and I saw lot’s of wild horses. I hung back relaxing in the 5th wheel trailer while they went on a ride on the ATV. (You should have seen Mom’s hair when they got back! She looked like a scare crow.)
Mom said they saw a sign at this ranch that said “Kids for Sale.” I won’t go any further, but Mom thought it was soooo funny. It was a goat ranch!
Mom was in the house talking to her friend and she started laughing. You see, Dad is REALLY hard of hearing. He has these things to put in his ears but he never wears them and they cost a lot of money. Well, Mom can really get irritated with Dad because she will say something to him and he gets it all wrong. Well, her friend’s husband is hard of hearing just as bad as Dad. Her friend said that she asked her husband for a glass of water one day and he brought her a fly swatter!
While we were there, Mom and Dad and their friends went to a new big sporting goods store in Reno called Sheels. Mom said it was really neat. It had a ferris wheel and huge fish tanks that you could walk under. Mom found this big plastic owl. You see, every year when springtime begins, these birds start pecking on the dining room window. It goes on day and night for weeks. Well, someone told mom to put an owl outside the window. We came home and mom set this big plastic owl, about three feet tall, in the branches of the tree outside the dining room window. The next morning she peeked outside the window and sitting right on top of the owl’s head was one of those big birds. They now have a new perch to sit on. That really worked!!!!
We had a nice ride home and it’s good to be back. I have something to share with you and I will do it in my next visit with you.
Goodbye for now my friends, and don’t forget to check out those Available Golden’s. especially we older ones. We are so special. Mom tells me that every day.
Hello my friends,
I was telling you that I had something to share. I told you about a recent trip that our family made. On the way home, I was resting quietly on the back seat of the truck. Mom and dad were talking. I heard mom say that she thought this little trip was good for all of us and that when something sad happens, it is best to talk about it. She said that when you have a loss of something or someone that you love, there is a process that you go through and in the final process, you find that you are able to treasure those memories.
Like in the Lion King, the Circle of Life.
To feel loss means that we are blessed with love. My sister, Sheba went to Heaven. I miss her, but I feel that she, like me, is so thankful for Homeward Bound Golden Retreiver Rescue, taking us under their wings and finding a permanent home for us where we, in our older age, could be showered with love, dignity and respect. Sheba now has a special star in the heavens that we chose just for her. I can almost see her up there,with a big smile on her face, running and playing without pain, and bugging someone to toss a ball to her and thinking, ”O.K., I’m the Queen, where’s my wheel chair?”
Goodbye for now my friends and don’t forget to check out those Older Golden’s. Like mom says, we’re the best.
Hello my good friends,
Mom has taught me that some times the smallest of things can be so pleasurable. This morning, she took me into the bathroom , lifted the curtain, removed the big white Poster Board that said,”Quiet. Mother is nesting!” She showed me the empty nest resting in the Pink Jasmine outside the bathroom window. Yes, Elvis has left the building! All three tiny little nestlings.
The big birds have finally stopped pecking on the dining room window. Mom has gotten kind of accustomed to that owl sitting out there in that tree and has decided to leave it there. I went outside this morning to get a little fresh air. I had seen this before, but had never asked about it. There, under some big Oak trees is a small area that has some pretty flowers in bloom, a bird bath, two angles and a marble stone that says, “Forever Loved.” I asked Mom what that was, and she began to tell me.
She said, “You know, Junior, I’ve never quite understood why parrots can live so long, sometimes one hundred years, and other beloved pets’ lives are so much shorter. Maybe it’s because it takes parrots that long to learn to talk. Dogs talk with their hearts as soon as they are born. Their needs and protection are supplied by their mom, the gentleness of caring and loving human hands touching them. But, it is not always that way for many.
I need to stop now and take mom for a walk. I can sense that she’s getting a little emotional.
I’ll be back and please, please don’t forget to check out those Available Goldens waiting for their forever homes.
Your friend, Junior.
I’m back.
Mom said that she was having a hard time with the loss of Babette. She had a doctor appointment and told him of her sadness. He gave her some medicine to help her feel better.{I guess it was a box of See’s Nuts and Chews. That always makes her feel better.) After a couple of weeks, she was still feeling very sad.
She called a pharmacist. She told him that she had had a loss, didn’t say what it was, but she was still feeling extremely sad. (I guess she had finished that box of Nuts and Chews.) He said that there are two types of sadness. One is seasonal and the other is situational. He said the seasonal sadness usually goes away with changes in the weather. The situational sadness, only time can help. And then he added, during this time, if you need a shoulder to cry on, just give me a call. She had never met this man, but how kind and understanding he was.
A few month went by and Bijou’s diabetes got the best of him. He passed away peacefully in his sleep.
Dijon was now alone. Mom tried to take him with her as much as she could. On a trip home from the grocery store, Dijon was sleeping on the back seat of the Bronco. A car came around a curve on the wrong side of the road and crashed head on into mom’s Bronco. Dijon flew to the floor and was lodged between the front seat and back seat. Two men came running from a field nearby. The car was on its side. They broke the back window and pulled mom out. Mom said that she didn’t feel any pain. All she could think of was Dijon lodged between the seats. Dad was called and he rushed to the accident. Two firemen pulled Dijon from the back seat. He was O.K., just a little shaken. They handed him to dad. A photographer was there from a local newspaper. As the firemen handed Dijon to dad, with the flashing red lights in the back ground, he took a photo of dad holding Dijon. I’ve seen this picture hanging on the wall in our house and wondered about it. Now I know the story. Mom was taken to the hospital. The doctors said that the seat belt and air bag saved her life.
Mom’s car was totaled and they had to get a new one. Three weeks later, the phone rang early in the morning. Mom and dad, along with Dijon, got into the car and rushed to San Francisco. Their daughter Sheila was in labor and ready to deliver. Three hours later, into the world came a strapping nine pound baby boy. They named him Jack.
Two years later, baby Matthew decided to enter this world twelve weeks early. Weighing just over three pounds, in an incubator, hooked up to all sorts of tubes, a daily vigil began. A fighter that little guy was. Six weeks later, he weighed enough to go home, a healthy little baby boy. Two years later followed the birth of a beautiful, feisty, baby girl named Sarah Grace, Grace, being Mom’s middle name.
Mom said at one time she had feared never becoming a grandmother. Now there were so many , she sometimes had a hard time keeping track of them.
Thus, the Circle of Life. I am so happy to be part of this circle and part of this family here in my forever home.
Bye for now, and please don’t forget to check out those Available Goldens, especially us older ones. Remember, we’re not “Over the Hill”, we’re “On top of the hill.”
Bye for know,
Your friend Junior
Now mom doesn’t tell what happened next to too many people. She gets embarrassed so I have to be careful. If she comes into the computer room, I’ll just pretend like I’m sitting here meditating.
Mom said that one day a long time ago Gina thought that it would be good to take a ride. They all got into the old blue Bronco along with Dijon and Bijou in the back. They went for a long ride. It was hot. Gina suggested stopping to have a Margarita. There was a Mexican restaurant close by.
Dad parked on the side of the restaurant. Mom and Gina got out of the Bronco to take Dijon and Bijou for a potty walk. They walked along the side, toward the back of the building, around the back and up the other side, to across the walkway from where dad had parked. Bijou went potty, Dijon did not. Mom had sensed that Dijon was feeling the loss too.
People were sitting outside under grass umbrellas sipping Margaritas. A pretty young lady and young man sat gazing at each other while sipping on their drinks. Rather than walk all the way around to the back of the restaurant Mom decided to take the shortcut past the grass umbrellas over to where dad was parked. As mom and Gina began to walk, Dijon tugged on his leash, walked a few feet, lifted his right leg and peed right into the pretty young lady’s open purse .O.M.G. Mom was mortified!! He had never done anything like that before. She did the only thing she could think of to do. Mom tugged on both leashes, walked backwards, told Gina to go and get Dad and meet her at the back of the building, and she RAN!!! Dad pulled up in the back of the building. There, hiding behind the big debris box was Mom, Dijon and Bijou. She put them in the back of the Bronco and jumped into the passenger seat. Dad drove out of the parking lot. Everybody was so embarrassed that they ducked down in their seats. It looked like no one was driving the car.
Back to the house they went for iced tea. Forget the Margaritas. As mom and Gina began to recall what had happened, amongst the sadness and disbelief, came some laughter. Mom says it was a long time before they went back to that restaurant.
Mom says that looking back today at what happened, she thinks that Dijon did that on purpose. He sensed the sadness, created a distraction and in doing so, he changed the sadness into a few moments of laughter.
I hear mom coming. I better wrap this up so I don’t get caught telling this story.
Bye for now my friends. I’ll be back.
Your friend Junior