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My Stories, III

My Stories, Part III

On Tuesdays, I'm answering questions from My Mom. Her Stories. Her Words.

Today's Question

Mom, what were some of the best presents you received when you were a kid?

Wow, I'm not even sure where to start.  This could be such an easy, fluff question or a much deeper question.  What's so odd is while gifts is not one of my love languages, I love to give gifts.

When I read this question the first gift that came to mind was, Cash.  Not the money but the puppy.

My dog, Cash, at my feet

I loved dogs as a little girl, my first puppy love was for Rex.  Rex was the neighbors dog, they got him as a puppy when I was about 2 or 3.  He was allowed to run free in both are yards and I have many memories of throwing a slobbery tennis ball for him.  When I was 8 we moved, there weren't any dogs in our new neighborhood and I wanted a dog.

So like any 8 year old I asked my parents, and they said no.  So I kept asking and asking.  My dad finally said to research exactly what kind of dog I wanted, what kind would work well with our lifestyle and family.  I spent the next 6 years obsessed with dogs.  I checked out books, I looked at magazines, had my dad take me to dog shows and I even wrote a paper for 9th grade english.  The paper must have done the trick, by this time my parents were starting to soften.  At one dog show in Monroe we ran into a couple my mom knew who just happened to bread Golden Retrievers and just happened to have a batch of puppies.  They invited us to visit the puppies.

When we got there, they were so cute.  They showed me Cash and said he had been reserved but his potential owner got a new job and wouldn't be able to care for him, so he was available.  I spent the whole drive home trying to convince my parents to buy Cash.

The next day mom picked me up from school and said we had to run some errands.  Off we went to the pet store, we had cats so that wasn't a huge shock but she said we needed a leash.  I was so excited, my parents were giving me a puppy!

Cash really was an awesome gift.  I loved him and he loved me.  We did 4-H together, played ball together, went camping together, and went to the beach together.  He fit right into our family, he was even protective of my little sister, just like me.

I had always promised Cash we would move to a big ranch were he could have lots of room to play, sadly this never happened.  But Cash always watched out for me, he even approved of Tyrone.  He must have known that Tyrone was a good guy and the right guy for me.  Cash passed away 6 months before we got married, he knew Tyrone was taking over where he left off.

A dog's love can teach you so much about unconditional love, no matter what Cash loved me.  I'm not even sure I can really quantify all the things that having a dog taught me.  Cash was an awesome gift.

PS I think this will have to be a two parter.  I think I'll cover other kinds of gifts next week...

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