9 lives

By: Matt AKA Dad

To my boys and future nephews/nieces - you can’t put a price on loyalty. The willingness to devote yourself to someone or something no matter what is an unselfish ability that can’t be overstated.  True loyalty will invoke a series of other virtues: toughness, resilience, empathy, love. Uncle Bernie and I were lucky enough to witness true loyalty everyday in the form of a Springer Spaniel named Butch.  For those of you that didn’t know him, I hope you still enjoy a sampling of the stories that he provided. He was so tough, he didn’t just cheat death a few times, he literally had 9 lives.

  1. We brought Butch home when I was about 5 years old, so my earliest memories of him are hazy and fleeting. His first daring act was done early in his life, so I’m relying on second-hand accounts in order to tell it. Apparently my dad had decided to bake a fresh loaf of bread and put the pan of dough on top of our coal stove to start rising. The problem with that was, our coal stove was downstairs and my dad went back upstairs to the kitchen. As he continued to cook, Butch saw his opening. He quietly slunk downstairs, crept to the coal stove, and managed to get the pan of dough down without making any noise. He somehow also did not burn his paws on the stove, which was always extremely hot. Butch scarfed down that entire pan of dough before anyone was the wiser. When my dad came back downstairs, he found an empty pan on the floor and a young pup on the floor with a very sore belly. 
  2. We don’t know how he got up there or what he was chasing, but Butch managed to strand himself onto a tree branch at least 20 feet above the ground. My dad made me go into the house, probably to avoid watching our dog fall to his death. I’ve heard of cats doing this and having to call the local fire department to come get them down, but this was ridiculous! He claims that Butch climbed back down the way he came up, but that seems unlikely. 
  3. Run away on Xmas
  4. Trapped under pool cover - Butch went next door to see if Bo could come out to play. He went to the back door, but decided to help himself to a drink of water from the in-ground pool first. We don’t know if he slipped and fell or something else, but thank goodness our neighbor Sue was home! She heard a noise outside and spotted Butch, barely keeping his head above water, trapped under their pool cover! She sprinted downstairs, out the door and dove into the water just in time. If she hadn’t been there, that would have been the end of Butch for sure. 
  5. Hit by car
  6. Snake bite - I’m glad that I wasn’t there when it happened, because judging by the after effects, it wasn’t pretty. Butch came home from one of his jaunts through the woods and didn’t seem like himself. 
  7. Groundhog - Butch might have been one of the most docile dogs in the history of dogs. That is why the memory of him barking and growling with such ferocity still stands out in my memory. 
  8. Frozen with clumps of snow - Butch obviously didn’t learn his lesson from his xmas trip years before and he didn’t mind the cold much. We usually trimmed his fur short for most of the year, but let it grow long through the winter. This helped him bear the harsh winters and snow of central Pennsylvania. 
  9. Tumors - near the end of his life, Butch started developing tumors around his torso. They didn’t bother him at first, just like everything else. He had grown up being used as a wrestling partner for my brother and I so not much fazed him. 

Thanks for the memories, Butch, you were a great companion!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No one feels sorry for you

Image
By: Uncle Bernie One particular wrestling season in high school I was having trouble making weight and finishing close matches. On a crispy winter  Sunday  morning  (my only day off) my father told me , “G et  your  running shoes  on …we’re going for a workout. ” And that’s  not something you say  ‘ no ’  to our dad about.  He  dr ove  us to a nearby mountain that is so dang steep that it’s  tricky  to even get to the top in a motor vehicle.  And this is a paved road. If it’s snowing, forget it. I saw where this was going … “Get out. See you at the top,” he sa id . I  was  kind of chuckling to myself as I  close d  the door , blowing into my cold hands. The idea of running up the mountain  - without stopping -  was actually kind of hysterical. Little did I know, my dad had been practicing and successfully  doing it  for months.  So,  it was far from impossible. And he  was the only one that  knew . 2,000 feet to the top.  I shrugged my shoulders , hit a couple quick squats,
Read more

The Untold Story

Image
By: Dad AKA Matt This is not an easy post to write simply because I wasn't sure how to approach it. My family and I created this blog to share stories from our lives that teach, uplift, and make you laugh. This narrative is one of the best stories that was almost never told.  That's right, the title is a slight misnomer. Personally, I've only heard the story  just one time.  When my grandfather  shared it, I was  flabbergasted. He revealed the story in the blink of an eye, I nearly missed it and had to ask quite a few questions to make sure I was really understanding what I heard! Years later, my brother Zack and I reminisced about why such a great story was never brought up again.  Now, as a father trying to instill my personal values unto my sons, I think I know why.  Nonetheless,the story is NOT the focal point nor the moral of this post.  It is the WHY that holds the value. and is the true takeaway. My grandfather, Pop Fegley, loved to tell us stories. And personally,
Read more

Attack mode

By: Uncle Bernie At some point in your life, your car will break down. It’s inevitable. It happens to everyone. When it breaks down, people will be more likely to lend a helping hand if they see you behind the car pushing it rather than just standing around sticking your thumb out. This goes for every difficulty in life, whether it’s just a speed bump or a total breakdown. A lot of people immediately take their hands off the steering wheel at the first sign of discomfort or adversity. If you want your situation to improve, you need to start helping yourself first. When you’re going through a hard time and that very first feeling of procrastination, anxiety, or hopelessness hits…it’s time to go into ATTACK mode. You can’t ignore your situation or pretend like it doesn’t exist. And you can’t wait for someone else to fix it for you. Open the door, get behind the car, and start pushing. You might find that people will lend a helping hand. And you might find when you get good at push
Read more