Our Oldest Baby

It all started quite innocent. We were merely going to take her as a test drive and she ended up never leaving. Some might say that we stole her but that’s all perspective. I like to think that she came into our life like kismet. Cassidy is her name. Like Cher or Madonna she needs no last name and we didn’t waste time with silly little modifiers that would imply she is of some royal descent. Instead, she has many nick names, such as Cass, Casa Dee Dee, Baby Girl, Dingus or Crazy. She is indeed a little crazy and at times she is just downright retarded. We call her “special” in mixed company and let them determine what they want in that. In reality she is a nine years old chocolate lab but she thinks she is much younger and much smaller. To please the court, I offer up the following pieces of evidence of her retardation:

1. She was in our wedding party and she had to be medicated in order to be around the crowd of people. Our wedding was less than 100 guests.

2. She is no longer allowed to go to my parent’s house for Christmas because the combination of all those kids and adults and Christmas tree and food is too much and she explodes into a whirling, twirling whining mess of fur. Her last Christmas in public, we head out to my parent’s house on Christmas Eve night and by Christmas morning she was locked in the garage for the safety of everyone and for her tongue to return to its normal color.

3. To let you know that it is time to eat, she spins.

We keep her around because she gives the best hugs. EVER. She will do the slow creep up on to your lap or couch. Slowly, one paw at a time and one pound at a time. And then nose dive you into your neck. She is very good with the aim of her snout into your neck. The nose being cold and wet is just an added bonus. The natural reaction is to drive your chin into your neck in a protective manner. This must be a cue for her to do the same thing. So now it’s a vise grip of dog on human action. Personally, I’m laughing too hard by this point to do much of anything other than to curl up and protect my abdominal area since she is not wildly dancing on top of you but still magically holding you down with her snout grip. It is pure joy. She is and always will be our first baby.