"Two Poodles and One (Dog)"

Yes....it's another one of Marty's Musings....I must remember not to think too critically of others.

Several months ago in conversation with wonderful friend, Ann, she mentioned that it was so difficult to go through her mother's old bank statements.....Well myself just couldn't get a grasp of that. Myself just thought of it as just a bunch of old checks. Myself couldn't see how old checks could bring forth memories.

But lo, this morning I was sneaking through a box of stationery, cards, etc. looking for an envelope, and ran across a folder where I had stuck notes and cards Mom had sent to me over the years. Then, there it was.....a canceled check from 8-8-90. It was made payable to a dog grooming shop here in town and signed by me.

Way back then I had two perfect little poodles, Missy and Dixie, and Mom had Jeli Bean, the Shih Tzu. When the three of them were together, all of Jeli Bean's flaws seemed to come out (in Mom's mind anyway). She always thought the poodles were more prissy with their poofy little tails and poofy little top notch and poofy little hips and pointy little nose and shaved little tummy. Whereas Jeli Bean's overbite was more pronounced when with the poodles. Her little snub nose was always dripping. The rubber band holding her topnotch out of her eyes made her look childish when around the poodles. Dixie was black, Missy champagne. Jeli Bean, on the other hand, was black AND white. And insult added to injury, Jeli Bean's hairdresser preferred to trim her ears in a block cut, whereas the poodles' ears were left long and flowing.

Back then I still received a paycheck from corporate America, so Mom took the three of them to be groomed every month. For her time and trouble, I always gave her a check to pay for all three groomings. Well, on this particular hot August day back in 1990, Mom just cracked. When she picked the three of them up, it seemed to her that the hairdresser had spent much too much time on "the poodles" and not enough time on "the dog". Thus, the notation on the check she had written "Two poodles & one (dog)". I laughed out loud then and I laughed out loud this morning when I ran across that old canceled check. Memories...even from canceled checks, imagine that....

....I really must remember not to think too critically of others.

Hugs, to Ann for being my friend in spite of myself. And hugs to Mom in heaven for giving me memories.