CarlaGEE.me

Five years ago this month, my sister called inquiring about our Christmas gift plans for the boys.

“Any chance you’d be interested in a puppy,” she pried? My heart skipped a beat.

“Are you kidding me?!”. . .

I love dogs! I’ve always loved dogs. As a child, I had grown-up with a full-size, sweet, cute-as-the-dickens poodle we named Coco. My grandmother owned an adorable dachshund named Shorty that would leap right up and into your arms when invited. My aunt and uncle had dogs in their home too although I only remember Dolly. We’re just that special breed, dog people. Yes, they are a lot of work, requiring lots of attention, feeding schedules and exercise routines. But I really wanted to introduce the responsibility and joy of owning a dog to my boys so I agreed to meet the potential candidate my sister had in mind.

I imagined the look on BigGEE’s face Christmas morning when he saw her. Never mind the fact that I had not yet met the dog, I already knew I wouldn’t be able to say no.

She was a stray beagle-mix approximately one to two years old with a proclivity for running – thus the “stray” factor. Unlike a full beagle, there is no incessant howling, however, her hunting instincts are still strong and one must keep a watchful eye for unguarded and open gates.

Her big brown eyes greeted me and I heard only the begging behind them, “I’m going home with you, right?”

Sure enough, our next step was to get her fixed, dipped and inoculated against any worms, disease or illness. Topped with a red bow, she was an expensive but perfect gift on Christmas morning. BigGEE immediately and without hesitation named her Daisy and loved her. And rightfully so. She is absolutely the sweetest, gentlest, smartest, most patient dog I have ever known. Hands down and unequivocally she is the BEST!

Several months later the summer heat drove a golden haired cocker spaniel down the busy street in front of our office where he met my co-worker following her right through the front door. Planting himself underneath our conference room  table, this happy-go-lucky, friendly pup took a much needed rest in the cool of air conditioning. Patches of fur were missing from his coat, but he otherwise seemed healthy. He lapped up the water provided and all the attention lavished upon him from an office full of animal lovers.

“Now what?” we thought and it didn’t take long for my office mates to convince me to take him home under the premise that Daisy needed a pal. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea but he clearly needed some help. So I hauled this new find over to the vet and began several months of weekly medicinal dips to treat his mange, appropriate and multiple shots and a scheduled neutering. We purchased a second doggie bed, an additional set of chew toys and several more bags of dry food before we officially called him ours. We began settling into life with our newest addition, Kylo.

Cocker spaniels are an extremely needy breed seemingly starved for attention. They like to play, play and play and they don’t share anything well. Kylo eats like it’s either his first or his last meal – wolfing it down in a panic. I’m not a big fan of his but the boys are very fond of him.

Then there was that fateful day about a year ago when I arrived at work to witness some odd commotion in the yard across the street. A car was stopped along the same busy street that brought Kylo to our door and the passenger was reaching out toward something in the yard. Two ladies across the opposite street stood watching whatever was happening or had happened. In the time it took for me to park and make my way to the office front door, the car drove away and the ladies moved on and that’s when I saw her.

She was a pitifully small dog trying to cross the yard in what appeared to be “escape” motion. Her movements were clumsy as she took a few steps with her front paws only to have her bottom drop to the ground. Her back legs stumbled unable to bear her 6 pounds of weight. I immediately crossed over to assist but she wanted nothing to do with me growling and snapping as she made her way into the bushes to hide and rest. I’d have to wait for Yoda.

Elizabeth is the gal that every office wishes they had working for them. She is mother-nature incarnate. A former horse handler, Yoda knows a great deal about, well, everything but especially nature’s creations: animals, weather patterns, plant life, biology, children, food. She’s amazing. So, when she arrived I gave her what triage information I had on the patient and we marched across the street with water and a towel. She was so cute; we felt certain someone would be looking for this lost puppy, so we set our attention to keeping an eye out for the owner.

The whole day past and the puppy did not move from her spot. At 3:00 PM when the homeowner, in whose bushes she had taken refuge, returned, we asked her about the dog. She did not know it nor to whom it might belong but agreed to give it some more time. At 5:00 PM I headed back over to determine what the next step would be only to learn that the homeowner was calling the City’s Animal Control Department. The pup would be collected and put to sleep. What?!!! Not on my watch!

Yoda helped me load the pitiful patient into a box and I once again made the trek to the vet’s office for several hundred dollars worth of services. An x-ray revealed she was missing the socket from her ball and socket joint but she would be fine. Spaying, shots, food bowls and instructions to keep her calm and as immobile as possible and she was ours. So for the next few months we nursed her back to health treating her like a princess and that’s how she got her name.

Princess is a fox terrier small and fierce. She was clearly abused in the life she had before coming to our home but she is growing in confidence with each passing month. She adores Mr.GEE and loves to cuddle on the couch when uninvited. She does not, however, entertain any invitation extended to “come over for some lovin’ ” nor the offer to eat food out of our hands. I know she’ll get there in time. As far as the other two dogs are concerned, she runs the show and keeps everyone in line – or so she thinks. She’s now a happy, yappy little thing!

So there you have it! I didn’t set out to obtain three dogs. Each one entered our lives unexpectedly but with open arms. On very cold nights, the two larger dogs sleep on my side of the bed almost pushing me off entirely. It is a sweet and innocent warmth. The small one prefers her private quarters beside Mr.GEE’s bedside table nestled between it and the dresser drawers. Perfect for a Princess.

I hope we’ve provided them with a good home and believe they have lives infinitely better than before. We’ve got lots of love to give them. And these days, when I see a stray as I travel around town, I quickly look the other way whispering a small prayer that another family also with lots of love to give – and deep pockets – is traveling close behind along the same path.

It was 9:00 PM as I sat in the Houston terminal waiting for the final flight home. According to my boarding pass, it was to have started boarding 15 minutes earlier but I had lost track of the time. I busied myself with the iPhone responding to emails and sending text messages, all the while keeping a casual eye on the muted Cowboy’s game on the T.V. overhead. Bursts of activity were periodically interrupted by daydreams of the perfectly wonderful weekend I had just left behind.

I attributed my pounding headache to a full day of travel and an anxiousness to get home. It was more likely to have been brought on by the weighty and emotional goodbye to dear friends, leaving behind a beautiful part of the country in which I believe my true spirit lives and such excitement from the rare opportunity to attend a research symposium. It could also have been brought on by the empathetic desperation I felt for Jeannette Walls and her siblings as I read her memoir, The Glass Castle. (A fabulous read, by the way!) The truth, however, was that it was a headache brought on by the mounting dread of heading back to reality. Weekend escapes from motherhood have been so few and far between and this particular weekend had been incredibly enlightening and reinvigorating.

Amanda and her youngest son, who snapped this photo of us, had met me at the airport four days earlier. We easily glided right back into step with one another as we caught up on the past six years since we last spent time in each other’s company. We parked ourselves in her kitchen all afternoon and evening recalling the many years and memories we’d shared. Sometimes it required both of us to assemble just one – half her recollection and the other pieces pulled from my bank. It’s hard to believe there was a time when we were 20 somethings, kidless and fancy free New Yorkers.

Her beautiful home is located on property with a backyard that slopes down to a creek; ideal exploring grounds for her three young boys. The school bus deposited the two older ones at the end of their driveway so none of our time together was interrupted by what in my world would require: a trip in the car down the road to circle for a parking spot on a side street across from the school, to exit the  vehicle, travel to the cross-walk, greet the safety patrol, navigate the school hallway to LilGEE’s classroom, wait for the bell and an orderly dismissal, negotiate a rather upstream travel through the now overly crowded hallway, to BigGEE’s classroom before traveling the entire sequence in reverse back to the car.

All in all, it was a terribly short but perfect visit and I feel as connected to Amanda as I ever have. Some friendships are just like that.

The next day, I found my way to the first day of presentations at the Society for New Communications Research symposium. There I met Katie Paine. She was fabulous! I quickly became fascinated with the work of measuring both traditional and social media efforts. More about this conference later as my mind is focusing today on Vermont.

At the end of SNCR’s Day Two, Jim collected me from the Harvard Faculty Club and we set off on the two hour drive to his home there. He was the perfect host inserting me into what is usually a busy family weekend schedule. He had, however, planned ahead for everything from what we would eat, where we would go and what we might do – all the while offering alternative options to any or all of his carefully laid plans. Just like my time with Amanda, those 15 years since we last met melted away instantly, and we regaled a time before children and mortgages. Given that Jim’s a foodie, he’s raising daughters that eat fresh everything: breads, salads, dressings, butter, vegetables, salt. He’s a happy magician in the kitchen and each meal was perfect.

He loves living in Vermont and who could blame him? We traveled to Woodstock, a charming town with quaint shops, galleries and restaurants. Vermont makes entertaining out-of-state guests easy. Just driving around is beautiful. We traveled over the river and into New Hampshire to visit Hanover. It wasn’t hard to impress the Texas girl: state hopping within minutes, a backyard full of mountains, colorful trees, grazing horses and roads that twist and turn, curving up one mountain side and down another. It’s a bit of a roller coaster ride for one accustom to traveling many hundreds of miles on the same plane without any or just the slightest curves along the way.

He works at Dartmouth College an impressively beautiful Ivy League campus founded in 1769. I enjoyed a brief tour which reminded me of my own liberal arts alma mater, Southwestern University founded only 66 years later. I love those old gorgeous campuses. It was definitely coat weather that day and I took a few photos of fall foliage – one tree dressed entirely in red and another completely in yellow. I wanted to stay forever if only I could find a cafe that made “kid coffee”. Those New England folks drink the kind that will put hair on your chest.

And like my time with Amanda, it was time to say goodbye to Vermont and Jim after what felt like moments after my arrival. So I packed up the maple syrup flavored lollipops, homemade jams, and maple candy before we made the trip back to Boston’s Logan airport.

When in Houston, I finally glanced from my phone to the empty boarding counter at 9:01 PM, I panicked realizing there had been a gate change. I cursed the entire airline industry – all the carriers from A-Z -  as I raced down the hallway to the adjacent set of gates. I could not miss my flight!

There was nothing I wanted to do more than to climb back on a plane to Boston returning to fabulous adult conversation, continuing education and the gorgeous sight seeing. But I pushed myself down the terminal onto the plane and added more tension to the pounding in my brain. I was on my way home and I needed to be a big girl about it.

It was 10:30 PM when I arrived. MrGEE was waiting at the airport. And while I was emotionally and physically exhausted from the travel, I was motivated, excited, reinvigorated – ALIVE. I had changed in the time since he last saw me and I didn’t know how to begin explaining why. It was a fabulous trip! I had learned so much. I had enjoyed so much. I had reconnected with friends vowing not to let time slip away in large chunks again. I was home but already dreaming of my next trip to New England.