So Sorry

I am a nice person, albeit a little opinionated, quite possibly arrogant (my close friends in Boston, Seattle, and Baltimore agree that I am a too nice, I am a literary/word snob and also stuck in the 1800's. I love them. My West Palm and Minneapolis friends are snobs right there with me. We're like snooty sisters. Don't get me started on my real sisters. I got some that are high maintenance. Which ones? Hmmmm. LOL!!) and a perfectionist stuck in this body. *snort* And I snort when I laugh :)

What I am not is a pet person. Why? Mainly because I am allergic to dander, feathers, fur - you name it, I sneeze it. I break out in hives if it has long hair. Also, I think being raised in a Hispanic household, you tend not to be a pet person. (Vicky, hearken back to mom.....feeding your birds gravel because she thought the box was food. Poor, poor bloated dead bird.) Also, I am a neat freak and the thought of dog hair, paw prints and poo/pee in my house gives me the wiggens.

My first dog ever was Chloe. My first husband bought her for me when I was a senior at UF - Go Gators!! She was a Shar-pei (short hair) and she was beautiful. I was scared of her when she was a puppy.

Growing up, dogs in Puerto Rico were usually free-roaming and rabid. Not many people had them as pets, and if they did, they were not "members of the family." They were not fawned over and beloved. Maybe things have changed there, I don't know. But that was my experience. So when Chloe would bark, I would panic. All 8 pounds of puppy scared me.

She was such a girl, all dainty and snooty. My perfect friend! We came home one day to find she was gone from our back porch. Whether she crawled off or was stolen, we don't know. We never saw Chloe-Woey again and I was crushed.

After that, my ex & I had two more dogs; Moo Goo Gai Pan who was.....crap, what was he. He was a Chinese HAIRY dog who I did not get attached to because he got some kind of disease and had to be put down. Then there was Noodles. A male Shar-Pei. He was no Chloe, but he was loyal and loving. He slept on the floor by my ex's side of the bed, until that is, I got pregnant with Jake. Then he never left my side of the bed. Loving and loyal.....and did not seem to notice or care that there was a 3 month-old Jacob on the floor. He'd run right over him to get to my ex when he came in the house. After a few months of, not being mean, just not caring that Jake was around, we ended up giving Noodles to a couple with a female Shar-Pei.

I work with 4 Puerto Ricans (5 counting me) and 2 gringos. :) Only one Puerto Rican has a dog. My boss (gringo) has two. The boss, my one coworker J and I discuss my boss' dogs. My coworker J has a dog, but if anything happened to it, he says he won't spend the thousands of dollars to get the dog better. He was raised in PR around the same time I was. I think we had the same pet experiences. My boss can't believe it and many discussions arise from the pet topic.

Two of my sisters are "moms" to Chihuahuas. They love their dogs. They hug them, and squeeze them and call them George. Would they spend thousands on their dogs? Not sure. I think they would. They love their girls.

My boss had to put one of his dogs down this weekend. He was very sad. His wife and daughter were even sadder.

To my boss who will probably never read this, I am sorry for the loss of your baby.