Hi hi, everyone! It’s time for another Memory Monday! I hope your week is off to a great start. I’m extremely busy this week, so I’m going to keep this one short and sweet.
The doggy in the photo above is my little Poodle (or “Caniche” as they are called in Argentina) mix, Pandy, as a very little puppy, just taken from his mom. Pandy was always described as “medio Caniche, medio raza perro” which literally translates to “half Poodle, half dog-breed” which was a funnier way of saying mutt.
Pandy’s dad was well known in our little neighborhood. He was, in appearance and behavior, a scruffy, stocky little gray mutt who was exactly like Tramp from Lady and The Tramp, just a little darker. He technically belonged to someone in the local seltzer water plant, but he was basically a street dog, going all over the place, getting treats, getting into fights, and… siring puppies (lol). He had quite a large territory.
Pandy’s mom was a purebred Poodle as I recall, who belonged to the owners of our local general goods store (almacén, in Spanish –something between a NY bodega and a legit general goods store from the olden days) and her getting knocked up by the neighborhood tramp was a great joke to everyone who knew. The puppies were given away, all finding eager homes.
Ours was one of them. It was a complete surprise. I remember my mom calling me to our patio, asking me to sit down, and placing this whimpering little hippo on my lap. I could not believe it. I was five years old. I could not have been more pleased if a newborn unicorn had been given to me. And I was told he was all my own.
I have a lot of sad childhood memories, partly because I was a bit of a difficult kid (not badly behaved, just… not neurotypical I guess) and because of bad stuff that kept happening to us. As a result I have more vivid bad memories than good ones. But this happy memory at such a young age is one I remember very strongly. I remember my shock, followed by indescribable delight.
It’s a moment that stayed in my heart forever –in particular thanks to this photo, taken at that exact moment, by my mother.
I hope you enjoyed today’s memory. I had fun revisiting it for my blog.
