by Dorothy Rosa Durkee
Every now and then we hear of a Cavalier who has attached himself to a man who has been heard to insist, over the years:
“Dogs belong outside, not inside.”
“No dog will ever sleep in MY bed!”
At some point thereafter, we hear that not only is there a dog in his house, but sooner or later, one in his BED.
Often it is a Cavalier that changes this man’s mind about dogs in the house — and in his bed.
What follows is the story of what happened today with one of those men. First, some background:
Every year we fly to the national NCAA collegiate wrestling finals, held in a different mid-western city each year. Every year when we return, John, a Lehigh graduate and former collegiate wrestler, makes airline reservations for the following year’s trip. He books (and pays for) a hotel room ($22/night, via Hotwire) and car rental, orders our tickets ($150+), and eagerly awaits the passing of the year. John has been doing this for the past 35 years or more.
So this morning we got up, dropped the dogs for boarding at the Vet, drove 90 minutes, stopped for lunch, drove to off-airport parking, parked our car, rode the shuttle to the airport, made our way (wheelchair and all) to the ticket counter, checked in, negotiated first-class upgrades — and at the last possible moment before proceeding to the gate, changed our minds.
We reversed our route, arriving at the Vet’s shortly before they closed.
We’re home now, and Taz is dozing at my feet. In a few minutes I’ll slip into bed, and Taz will follow me, settling into John’s right arm, which will remain wrapped around him till John falls asleep.
We changed our minds because Detroit in March wasn’t all that appealing (sorry, Detroiters, it’s a seasonal thing), because the airports are jammed with spring breakers, because John sadly didn’t expect much from Lehigh this year — and because John missed Taz!
We now have two sets of tickets for sale, to be posted on e-Bay tomorrow unless I hear from someone here who wants to buy them at a BIG discount … if they can bear to leave their Cavaliers.
Note: Doro and John adopted Taz via Barb Cooke. They are also owned by Tess, 14; Bailey, 2; and Cooper, 15 (at The Bridge).
