Sibling Saturday: My Brother's Easter Basket!

She didn’t talk to her husband for hours when he came home from work that day. She was terrified, afraid for herself and her precious three children. He did not ask permission, it wasn’t a slight, just a surprise gone a little awry. In that moment she couldn’t see that one day they would become the best of friends. Yep, that day, Dad had brought home a mild mannered Collie and Shepherd blend canine whose name was King. Of course, the kids were elated but the Mom was sure we would all be found dead the next morning, mauled by this intruder!

Stories of King, where to begin?  He was best buddies with the youngest son, Jimmy and the protector of the Mom, Jane. He was a gentle giant but when he wagged his tail everything in its path was on the verge of destruction. He loved long walks late at night, barking at the neighborhood children while tethered to the anchor secured in the middle of the front yard, and vanilla ice cream from Dipper Dan. Yep, when our grandmother was visiting we kids used to lie and say to our Dad, "Grandma said she wants ice cream from Dipper Dan!" She would just smile and Dad would always oblige. We enjoyed ours but King did more! I can still conjure, in my mind, the sight and sound of King lapping up his scoop of vanilla ice cream in his turquoise bowl right in the middle of the walkway from the living room to the dining room.

This was my brother's Easter basket. One year he decided that it should belong to King. One of us kids wrote his name on it and that was it! I have saved it, along with my own childhood Easter basket, all these years. An Easter basket for a dog, weird, I know, but our family is like that, and, remember, I love simple things that remind me of family and special relationships. The price stamp on the bottom of the basket is 89 cents. Now? Priceless!

King was adopted from the Miami Humane Society after weeks of our Dad searching for just the right dog. We think he had been abused, in today's terms, he was a rescued soul.

So, I know that a pet does not really count as an ancestor and King does not fit anywhere into our family tree but who says that the heirlooms that we have from "man's best friend" don't count here, right?! It's my blog and I can write what I want to....! (Can you hear the tune...it's gonna' be stuck in my head all day now!)