Dogs

Dad punctuates his sentences with a definitive "that's it" --as if he had the final word to say on any subject. I guess it is a hold over from his years of writing legal opinions.

When I was a child, we always had dogs. However, they were always outside dogs--snow, rain, 100 degree heat--they stayed outside. Since I've been married, my dogs have been inside dogs. This has been one of the adjustment for my parents when they moved in with us. It has also been an adjustment for the dog, Suzy. She is afraid of Mother's walker, but she loves sitting under Dad's chair at meals to eat any of the things he spills. My husband calls it Suzy's feeding station. If Dad is at the table, Suzy is right next to him. Other than that, they pretty much ignore each other.

One night after Dad went to bed, he must have made some unusual noise. He likes to sleep with his door half open to "get air". Suzy walked to the door to see what the noise was about. Dad saw her at the door and started talking to her. He said, "You're a dog, and you're always going to be a dog. And that's it. And your mother was a dog, and she'll always be a dog. And that's it." "You don't like me very much, but that's OK. I don't like you very much. And that's it." All of this with an up talk that can quickly drive you mad. Even after Suzy got bored and wandered off, he kept repeating this, over and over and over and over. He must have talked about Suzy always being a dog for at least 20 minutes.

You just have to laugh.