Una - Day 3

I've never been a pet person. I can't even keep a fish....although, from what I hear, keeping fish isn't an easy thing, so I guess that's ok. Growing up my grandfather had a dog, his name was Brownie. I think he was the closest thing I came to having a pet. He looked like a German Shepard, but wasn't. He was brown, obviously, and he was loyal to my grandfather. I remember, when I was Kinder, I had to walk from my house to my grandfather's house at the corner to catch the bus to school. Brownie would meet me halfway and walk with me the rest of the way. I'd like to think it was because he loved me, but truthfully, it was because my grandfather was standing at the other end of the path and sent him to me...he was loyal to him, not me. Although, when Brownie died, we found him underneath our deck, just outside my bedroom window. He had died in his sleep.

When Johnny and I got married he would always ask about getting a dog - neither of us liked cats (turns out, I'm allergic to them) - but I would always say no. We tried Beta fish (can't keep fish, remember), so that didn't work. Then, after we had Fran, I became out numbered. One afternoon, my sister in law Sharon had a friend come by the house to drop off a chihuahua that she was giving to my mother in law. Naturally, she showed up with the whole litter. There they were, in the middle of my kitchen floor, these 5 little things, whining and trying to bark at one another. I had never seen dogs, or puppies, so small. Fran came running and instantly fell in love. She ran to Johnny, begging daddy to let her keep one. What did he say? He said what every dad says when he doesn't want to be the bearer of bad news OR when he also wants what the child wants and sends reinforcements....he said, "Ask mom." I had two puppy dog faces, no pun intended, staring at me from across the kitchen. I knew I was outnumbered. So, we became owner's of a white, baby chihuahua, her name is Una. We didn't have to keep the name, but Sharon's friend had already named her that because she was the first born of the litter. I actually liked it. Una.

Well, for someone who was "never about pets," I sure did become attached. We tried keeping her inside the house, until Johnny and Fran failed at potty training, then she went outside. But in the short time we had her inside, it wasn't out of the ordinary to find Una asleep on the small of my back whenever I would lay on my stomach on the floor. She's our family pet and we love her. As much as Johnny will tease me and say I never wanted her, she's still ours and I worry about her all the time. She knows when we're here and she knows when we're gone. She doesn't run away, but always runs to us when we go outside. Fran loves her and worries when we're not home and it starts to rain. She's just as much a priority to us as our girls are.

Well, tonight we watched the movie, Max, and as I sat there watching it I started thinking about Brownie, which then led me to thinking about our Una. While many people don't like chihuahuas and don't consider them "pets", she's our Max. While she would probably lose a fight against a 70lb Rotweiler, and isn't military trained, she'd still give him a run for his money because she's numero Una in our book.

Till next time...