Bootsie and me

Bootsie and me were the same age. She died when she was 12. We were in Ocean Pines for the summer and had dropped her off at the Vets to be groomed and when we got back to pick her up was told she had died from a stroke. My Mom cried hard. She cried too hard for her to be able to start the car. We sat there a cried for a while and then we went home.

I remember back in Cleveland Bootsie got sprayed by a skunk! I remember my Dad soaking her in a big metal tub with about 20 cans of tomato juice to help wash out the smell. For weeks she smelled of skunky tomato juice.

I remember my dad calling Bootsie into the garage from across the street. She came running full speed into the garage and in full stride smashed headfirst into the close inside door to the house. She bounced off knocking herself out and landing in a sprawl unconscious in a pile of upturned bikes. I thought she was dead. My Dad scooped her up in his arms and by the time he got her to the coach she had come to whimpering.

I remember him looking at me  with sincere pain in his yes. He said, "Your Dumb Dumb Daddy-o didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't even think that could happen!"

Boots, best first dog ever!