MM 8

Allyn, Shadow and Leah...

Amber and Jennie had just finished a Stars dance class and their dad had come to pick them up. It was 1984. The dance studio was kind of in a warehouse area and in the alley was a man who came up to the three of them and said, "Hey, do you guys want this?" My sweet husband said, "want what?" and the man handed him a chubby, round, brown fur ball puppy. The man said that someone left a box of puppies in the alley and he was giving them away. The girls then gave the, "please,please,pleeeeeeaasssse...pretty pleeeeeaassse!" and their softie dad said, "we'll take her (of course it was a girl puppy) home and see what Mom says." That's right he wanted me to be the bad guy, because he knew I did not want a dog! I had three kids for heavens sake and the thought of taking care of a puppy was not at all what I wanted to do!!! They walked in the house with three joyous little grins on their faces and Allyn David pulls this fur ball out of his coat pocket...and I say oh, no, no, no pointing my finger and telling him he has, "three days to find a good home for that dog!" Well, that dog, "Shadow", (because she followed us everywhere) was a great dog for about 12 years...yep, 12 years. Shadow was an outside dog, at least I insisted on that, who was so good that even when we opened the doors would only put her paws on the threshold and be happy just watching us. She was probably just afraid of the mean mom inside. She loved to chase cars down Patrick Lane and she was Allyn's protector when he went on long walks in the desert. The girls loved her and before Shadow got too big, they even took her on walks in the stroller like she was their baby. Shadow was a good dog...and I have never admitted it, but I am glad they talked me into keeping her all those years ago.