Family History--Man's Best Friend

After Granddad Wood died, life was pretty rough for little six year old L.D. He had adored his dad, following him around and working with him on the farm. He was a heartbroken little boy. In his words, "I was sick with grief. Dad was gone and I didn't know what to do. I was lost without him, but was expected to carry on and be a man about it. At least I had Brownie and that helped." Brownie was an English bulldog given to Dad by Granddad the year before. The dog and Dad were inseperable, especially after Granddad died. The dog was never allowed in the house, however, because Grandmother Wood didn't like pets much. Brownie became Daddy's consolation and one spot of happiness in his grief. Daddy told of walking home from school in Carlisle (about 2 miles from their house). When he was about half a mile from home, Brownie would run to meet him, every day without fail. One day Brownie didn't meet him, though, and Daddy ran all the way home to find him. He looked everywhere and...no Brownie. He asked his mother if she had seen Brownie and she told Daddy that Brownie had probably run away or been taken by someone passing by. When Daddy began to cry, she told him to quit it and go do his chores. Daddy said, years later when he was 91, "I never knew what happened to my dog. I know Mother didn't like him, but I don't think she had anything to do with it. Who would take away a little boy's dog?" (Personally I (Elaine) think she got tired of having the dog around and gave him away, but who knows?)

There's another, happier chapter to this story that occurred in Dad's last years. After Mother died, my sons, Nathanael and Joshua, and I moved in with Dad for a while. One night in July 2003 Josh found a little reddish brown puppy in the street and brought him home. He wanted to keep him. I told Josh that Daddy probably wouldn't go for it, but we would ask him. We took the puppy, a pitbull mix whom Josh had dubbed "Sain" into the living room to Daddy. Josh told how he had found the poor little thing and wanted to keep him. Daddy took the puppy and began petting him, saying, "That is some pup! Good looking dog, isn't he?" As Dad continued to pet Sain, I asked if Josh could keep him. Daddy finally replied, "Well, we'll keep him until he's big enough to find him another home." I was stunned, frankly. Daddy had never had a dog in town. He always thought it cruel to keep big dogs confined to little backyards where they had no room to run and play. He had many dogs over the years on the farm, but never in town.

Officially Sain was Josh's dog. In reality he was Daddy's dog and Daddy called him...Brownie. That dog was spoiled rotten. Daddy cooked extra bacon in the mornings so Brownie could have some. He gave the dog bread with syrup on it (sop) for snacks and any table scraps went straight to Brownie. After about six months we had Brownie neutered and when we brought him home from the vet, Dad consoled him and petted him. He told Brownie, "That wasn't very nice of them to do was it? Take you off to a strange place and have you deballed. Not a nice thing at all! Come into the kitchen and I'll get you some sop."

Daddy had Alzheimer's and was in the early stages when we got Brownie. The dog became Dad's best friend, literally. They went for daily walks and Brownie grew to be a big dog, about 70 pounds. I worried about the walks some, but both of them enjoyed them too much to stop them. They would greet and visit neighbors along the way and have a good old time. One day they came home greatly agitated and Dad's hand was bleeding. On their walk they had encountered a bigger, mean dog. Brownie tried to protect Dad by getting between him and the strange dog, snapping and growling all the way. About the same time the strange dog lunged to attack Brownie, Daddy stepped in the middle to protect him. Dad's hand was bitten in the process of all the confusion. Daddy was so proud of Brownie for defending him and I think Brownie was proud of Dad for the same reason. Both of their eyes shone with pride.

As Daddy's Alzheimers worsened, Brownie remained his best friend. He sat by Dad's chair for hours and followed him wherever he went. He would even follow Dad to the restroom and sit respectfully outside the door waiting for him to come out. When Daddy had to move into a nursing home, I made sure to find one where Brownie could visit him. We took Brownie often and it would make both of them very happy. When Daddy passed away in November, 2006, we had a graveside service as Dad had requested. Brownie was there to say goodbye with us, faithful to the end. 

Next I'll write about the bigamy incident in the Wood family.  Stay tuned...