A COUPLE OF HORSES, ANYONE?

Once upon a time I met a remarkable couple:  Ginny and John.  Does this sound slightly familiar?

Cats were not their lives, but their little Shih Tzu, Billy, was.  Again, as four-legged creatures are wont to do, Billy got himself into a situation that became fatal for him.  And once again, we are talking about people whose animals are just simply four-legged people with a slightly different language than ours. 

There were days when Ginny would e-mail or call me on the phone and be so irate she could barely speak:  “Billy ate my…” and you can just about put any word in there you want.  Glasses, iPod, headset, underwear.

By far my favorite Billy story revolves around the day he squeezed around Ginny’s feet and flew out the front door with her in a robe and slippers in hot pursuit.  Neighbors were pointing and laughing, and Ginny was waving and screaming very unlady-like things at the little guy, wondering what was so funny.  Well, she found out when Billy took a corner and flying out behind him was one of her bras.  I seemed to find this quite a bit funnier than Ginny did.

Billy passed away from an accident the week before Valentine’s Day.  I remember this because I had been scheduled to travel to Birmingham and spend that weekend with my beloved friend and her family and go to the Sylvia Browne lecture with her. 

A lot of pretty crappy things have happened to Ginny and John in Februarys past, so we have all taken a vote and decided that there will be no February from now on. 

I loved little Billy, and we gathered around his gravesite, Ginny’s little grandson, Luke, with his tear-streaked little face hidden inside my coat and his arms wrapped around me, Ginny on the other side, her arms wrapped around me, and we mourned the little monster dog.  He really was special.  But we know where he is now, up in Heaven with his namesake most likely, just waiting to swoop down and pilfer another bra or maybe the new iPod so he can rock and roll in Heaven with that goofy little smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

So far no new situation has made itself available to the Alexander family, as far as a new doggy for them, but it will.  I believe in miracles. 

There is a situation, though, in a town near me, that makes me pretty sick.  "Upon our arrival we noticed there were approximately 18 horses that were in very deplorable conditions," Deputy Jim Tucker with the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office said. "They were standing in at least two to three feet of their own feces." So I was sort of wondering if Billy’s replacement could maybe be a  horse or two.  Now, seriously, Ginny is called The Critter Magnet, and whatever new animal takes up residence with her, will have the run of the house and will be treated with tremendous love and compassion.  I know she would feel so sorry for an abused horse that she would keep it inside, it would share their bed, and have its own seat at the table for meals!

So what do you say, Ginny and John?  In the market for a horse or two to round out your family?  You might have to buy a bigger vehicle, but I can just see it with its head out the window, wind blowing through it’s brushed and styled mane, a big horsey grin on its face, going on a picnic with its people!  Let me know, I’ll give the humane society a call for you!

In memory of the wonderful Billydog.  Love always, Mick