I’ve been on a trip down memory lane recently, courtesy of discovering boxes… and boxes… and some more boxes of photos in our attic. Some are photos that predate me (or non-little kid me) that I inherited when my parents died and I wasn’t yet ready to go through them. Others are the memories of my childhood, college, and graduate school years, and yet others are the pre-digital record of Casa Brillig. This past weekend I brought a box down that contained mostly old photo albums, and relived memories of significant others past, prom dresses best left to history, and many blurry birthdays, Halloweens and Christmases.
And mixed in with those photos was the one I didn’t know existed… a photo of my VERY FIRST PET (the gerbils I had for a very short time in 2nd grade until my Mom rehomed them after they ate the litter they weren’t supposed to have doesn’t really count, does it?). I teared up seeing my sweet, adorable pup after at least 30 years. His name was Simba, and we got him when a neighbor’s dog had a litter. My godmother, who lived just a quarter mile away, and another local family also got pups from that same litter and they got to see each other as often as one or the other got loose and roamed the neighborhood. I was in elementary school then, and I loved that little dog so much!! I don’t remember if it was most people locally or just my Dad, but Simba wasn’t allowed in the house. Ever. He had a doghouse in the back yard and in the winter we moved him into our basement… but I don’t ever remember him being allowed into the house. Present-day me is absolutely horrified that we did this to such a sweet, wonderful dog, depriving him of his pack. But I was a child, and didn’t know better then. Simba died when I was a teenager, and my parents didn’t get another dog. My Mom got a little Yorkie years later, and he was a pampered indoor pup!!
I had a rabbit in college and several cats once I moved to Boston, but remained dogless until 1995 when Mr. Brillig and I adopted a beautiful Doberman-Labrador puppy and named him Brillig. He was the first of our four dogs. You’ve met the last three, including our current pup.
When we went to the shelter a little over two years ago and decided that “Milton” was to be our next rescue pup, we hadn’t even gotten from the shelter to the car before K2 declared “His name is Simba”. Said son had NO idea that my very first dog shared that name, and I had to take 24 hours before I was comfortable with the idea of a Second Simba. I vowed that his life would make up for the lonely outdoor one of his namesake. I occasionally have to remind myself of this promise when he’s hogging WAY more than half the couch, or bed, or pretends to be a cat in how he wants to go in… and out… and in… and out again. He deserves the very best as a furry family member!
Who and what was YOUR first pet? Did you have one? If so, share your story in the comments! After perusing tonight’s Tops, of course 🙂
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From Crashing Vor:
The Lone Apple nails a certain species of pundit in the Abbeviated Roundup.
From inkstainedwretch:
G2geek reply to Mattt79 on this is only a test’s “You Keep Speaking, and I’ll Stand Guard”. That sounds like a solid workaround to get past the Freedom of Speech interfering with the protection of everybody’s Freedom to Live.
Fromboth PaulineB and TrueBlueMajority:
Laughing Gravy’s comment is an outstanding description of karma catching up to some magafolk who moved to Russia to get away from inclusive justice in the US. From SemDem’s “Christian” family moves to Russia to escape LGBTQ, and now can’t wait to leave their living hell.
From belinda ridgewood:
In today’s Abbreviated Pundit Roundup by Greg Dworkin, the subject of presidential age came up. The Geogre offered a comment about President Jimmy Carter that got to the heart of the matter.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday (Sunday), February 18th 2024, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday (Sunday), February 18th 2024. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you to the wonderful dKos staff who made it possible to continue this feature in memory of jotter!
