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| "Missy" (circa 1972) |
When our family was living in Holyoke, Massachusetts, I was about 5 years old and just starting Kindergarten. My sister was a year younger. The older of my two younger brothers was just a baby and my youngest brother was not yet born. And that was about when we got our first family dog, a collie-mix puppy that we named Cindy.
Cindy was a great dog who was as gentle as could be and got along just fine in a household of four children almost constantly on the move. Cindy was a well traveled dog and lived with us in Holyoke and Chicopee in Massachusetts, Salem Depot and Concord in New Hampshire, and finally in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. She was almost 14 years old when she died and the family was devastated.
It was when I was off to college, not too long after Cindy died, that my sister brought home a dog that she felt the family just had to adopt. My father still tells the story of the famous dog plebiscite and how he lost when even his visiting mother-in-law voted against him. Since I was away at college, I had no vote and remained blameless! The new family dog was named Missy by my sister and, sadly, she was only with us a few short years; but the truth is (as my father will admit) he was perhaps the most torn up member of the family when Missy got seriously ill and had to be put down by the vet because of the pain she was in. My father and I drove Missy on her final trip and I saw how upset he was.
Missy is pictured above in her younger days. She is fully grown here though she still looks like a puppy. The one thing I will always remember about Missy was how she had to struggle through two particular nights each year -- New Year's Eve and the 4th of July. She hated the sound of fireworks and firecrackers and the minute they started going off she began to tremble and whine softly. We finally stumbled upon an effective treatment when we discovered that she didn't mind rock & roll and could be almost completely calmed down if she could be coaxed to snuggle up behind the floor speakers of a stereo system in the house. Listening to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, and the Doors got poor Missy through the night!
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Photograph by the author.
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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew
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I love the story of your dogs! I thought I was stupid to think the story of my dogs should belong in my genealogy research. I am so glad that your post validates the fact that our cherished animals are part of our lives, add so much to it and show sides of some family members that we never knew existed. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAnnick
Hi Annick!
DeleteThank you for stopping by The Prism -- and especially thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughtful comment!
Our nuclear family had two dogs during the time my siblings and I grew up -- and they were very much a part of our family and now of our collective family memories. I think depicting and remembering family pets is a very appropriate topic for a genealogy. If we record and show our family homes and other inanimate objects relating to our family history, how could we not also include those loving beings that bring so much to our lives? ;-)
I am always thrilled to find ancestor photos with animals included in them. It rarely happens but it adds another dimension to my knowledge of the ancestor.
DeleteCindy and Missy sound like they were great additions to your family, John. Lucky pets to have you as their caretakers and lucky you to have them as companions.
ReplyDeleteThank you Yvonne! They were both great dogs. They had their own personalities and quirks and for that reason they fit right in as members of the family. ;-) They are missed, but photos like this bring back nice memories.
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DeleteI think Missy has an endearing face with a very penetrating gaze. I wonder what she had on her mind.
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy!
DeleteThank you for your comments on this post --always appreciated!.
I agree that family pets are such an important part of a family's history -- but all to often I think they get lost in the shuffle within genealogy-related writings and blogs. This and an earlier post and some of the interest they have generated have made me realize that my blog (and others that have as one goal the documentation and preservation of family history through words and pictures) need to attend to the family pets as much as they do to inanimate family items such as houses, cars, etc. I am going to search out opprtunities to do so.
Great post John! And great idea to include our pets when we tell our family history.
ReplyDeleteIts always nice for a family to have loyal companions, may it be cats or dogs. Missy sure did have a great time listening to some of the best rock artists ever. Having a pet is fun and can help people in a lot of ways. One just has to remember to have his place checked by experts to avoid allergies caused by their pets. Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteJessica Finley
Thank you for your comment Jessica! And I agree on the rock and roll she listened to. It was amazing how she seemed to like all the music I did! ;-)
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