On Loving an Animal, 3

That first winter that mom was here Tina died.  Dad to this day blames her death on mom.  At work my dad received a Hickory Farms gift box with the traditional cheese and sausage assortment that is available every winter around Christmastime.  Mom was excited about the gift at first until she sampled the contents. 

You have to know my mom to understand why this was so distasteful.  She hates hotdogs, barely tolerates sausages and does not like processed cheese food.  That day she discovered that Hickory Farms renditions of these items were more disgusting than those she’d tried before. So, in an effort to be kind to the dog (so she thought) she shared the leftovers with Tina whom happily devoured the contents of the box.  When dad got home from work mom told him of her bonding experience with Tina and was happy about how the day went.  That was until the next morning. 

As he always did, dad went out to the barn to feed Tina and tell her goodbye before he went to work.  Minutes later he appeared in the bedroom door pale looking and sad like he’d lost his only friend and informs mom that Tina was dead.  All mom could think was, “OOOPS! Could I have killed her with that yucky cheese? I know I didn’t give her chocolate!” Honestly, Tina was just old, closing in on ten years which is REALLY old for an Irish Wolfhound. Personally I think it was only a matter of time, but I’m sure it was still sad.

Stay tuned for part 4, tomorrow!

Did you miss our previous editions? Click here for part 2 and here for part 1.

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