Close to Nowhere

He was a brave coward

The first time I saw our grumpy old miniature schnauzer he was a 10-week old puppy. He’d had his first schnauzer haircut and was running around bossing his siblings and all the humans outside.

Little did I know...

We were going to buy a girl puppy, but the magnetic pull he exerted was too great and he went home with us. Discussing names in the car is always fun. Daughter Dana and granddaughters Merideth and Remy and I can never agree on anything, let alone a pet’s name.

We ended up naming the puppy Mr. Bean. I had no clue he was a British television character until years later. Our Mr. Bean was way too dignified to be named after a slapstick comedian.

A very smart little dog, he was convinced he was always right and he was the king of the household. He was extremely hard-headed also — unless it was thundering or a gun was out. Then he cowered like a baby — shivering and whining pitifully.

He was also terrified of the vacuum cleaner monster. And yet, one day, my little coward dashed in front of the vacuum monster, snatched his teddy bear from the certain jaws of death and ran back off.

That was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen! But he loved his teddy bear dearly.

Foxie, the pomeranian, came along when Bean was around 6 years old or so. She was a rescue dog from the streets and highways and had a lot of issues. Thankfully, she outgrew most of them, mainly, I think, because she had a friend her size that didn’t panic constantly.

But she liked Bean’s teddy bear also. She’d pull the stuffing out, I’d restuff and resew and the vicious cycle went on for several months. Then, I noticed that Bean didn’t care if his teddy bear was stuffed or not, just so he was handy when Bean needed him. Foxie lost all interest and the poor, really skinny teddy bear is still in my sewing room floor.

Mr. Bean is not though. At 14 when he developed tumors the vet said treatment would be too hard on him, so he went to sleep in the vet’s office last week. I’m taking it hard, but Foxie is having a worse time. She’s taken to hiding again, something she hasn’t done in years. And she won’t eat anymore. Bean’s bowl was filled first, then her dish filled. She can’t eat first, I guess.

We have a huge hole in our household left by one little dog.