It seemed like she was always part of us. Always around, but never underfoot. Getting along with everyone, including the mailman, who would stop to pet her after dropping off the mail.
She was also a heck of a catcher, which was something that we found out by accident. My dad would throw tennis balls to he to fetch and she would snag them out of the air. Pretty soon after, she would run out to the edge of the backyard whenever one of us picked up a ball, waiting for us to play catch.
Just before she passed on (somewhere around 12 as I recall), we got another dog, Chuchi. The new addition didn't know the rules and would get a snarl from Penny whenever she (Chuchi) picked food out of Penny's bowl. It took some time, but they became friends, and it was common that you'd see the puppy chasing after Penny's tail or curled up sleeping together.
When I think of how much love old dogs have to give, it's Penny's smiling face I see greeting me at the gate or trotting back to me after pulling a curve ball out of the air.
I think I underestimated how tough it would be to write this post.
ReplyDelete