Once, there was a woman who had lived alone for a long time, in a tiny apartment filled with thrift store furniture. She was a happy little camper, spending her time reading and watching pirated television because her neighbor was a hoodlum and knew how to do things like that.
This woman’s fellow employees could not stand it that she was single and happy, so they hooked her up with a gentle, sensitive guy, and it worked.
Now, this guy was a dog lover and felt that the woman he was beginning to love needed a dog.
He took her to someone who had two blonde Pekingese puppies for sale. One of them had chewed the others hair off its tail and looked a little evil. But he was so tiny and cute. The woman said, “He would fit in a coffee cup, I want him!”
The gentle, sensitive man she was beginning to fall in love with wrote a check and from there, the dog story began…….
He didn’t get a name right away. Some dogs just have to be “looked at” for a few days till the name comes.
The first few minutes they had him; they took him to Arby’s and let him nibble roast beef. They took him to Spring Park and let him spin around on that spinning around thing ..Whereupon he threw up the roast beef and caused great guilt to the two lovers.
They then took him to visit friends and home, where he got a name, finally. He was christened “Sheila’s Little Treasure Gizmo.”
That’s a long name for a tiny dog, but it fit and he became “Gizz”.
The years went by, and the couple, who had married and moved to the country, found that “Gizz” was pretty evil at times, but cute as a button.
The Pekingese had a bad attitude, thought he owned them, growled if they touched him, snarled at his food, kept his regal nose in the air, peed in the floor, shed hair all over the house, became a devil at bath time, and generally ran the whole house with fear and loathing.
But…the couple adored him. They dressed him in cute clothing, which he hated. They bought the best food so he wouldn’t turn his nose up at mealtime. They allowed him to sleep on the furniture and in bed with them.
Then came the television show, “South Park” where there was a lowly and sometimes evil character who was actually fecal matter and lived in the toilet bowl. The husband looked adoringly at “Gizz” and said, “This baby acts just like that thing on South Park, you know that thing called Hankie.” A new nickname was born.
The grandchildren could not pronounce the word, “Hankie”, so they called the dog “Hinky.” Hinky, it became, and he was called Hinky the rest of his life.
Hinky sometimes caused a ruckus in the house. He did not like being touched or even petted, and he snarled as if he were able to hurt someone. In all actuality, he was harmless.
He ruled the roost, pushed them around, and generally had the run of the house and yard. His fluffy tail could be spotted from a distance, and the couple would often say, “Look at Hinky. He is checking to be sure no one has entered his royal domain….”
He would walk their property and bark at the least thing, even a leaf moving in the wind.
He became more and more treasured. He also became more and more grouchy. The couple acquiesced to all his demands as best they could, and dressed him in warm clothing when he started to age. He hated cold weather and trembled in the least breeze.
Over the years, Hinky slowly became somewhat blind, and lost most of his hearing. He had trouble with his eyes. He became incontinent as the years went by, and the wife took to putting diapers on him. It seemed he started to like the clothing and diapers even though he snapped and snarled when being dressed and diapered.
He loved to lie on his little bed to sleep, waking occasionally to boss someone around for a while, and then returning to his bed.
He became old, feeble, and gentler. He became somewhat helpless, and was treated with kid gloves by all who knew and loved him.
The neighbors became accustomed to him peeking into their glass door, checking to see if they were home. They often reported seeing him lying asleep on their porch.
Today, Hinky is missing. On an outing for peeing and exercise, he just went away. The couple looked, searched, called everywhere. They drove miles and miles, even though Hinky was too old to make it uphill and out of their yard.
This couple, as you may have already guessed, is me…and my husband. We cannot find our Hinky. He just went away. Where he is, we do not know. We do know he could not make it in this winter weather, so we think he maybe went away to face the end.
You may ask why someone would want to keep a dog that is old, blind, deaf, and incontinent. Have you ever loved a dog? If not, then you should.
Would you “put down” a family member because they are old and helpless? Not us, we just determined to give him the best life we could until it ended.
We did consider having him put down once, and the wise vet said, “Let’s give the old boy a chance.” We did that, and Hinky lived another three and a half years.
Now, we think it HAS ended. It is a mystery, and so far unsolved. We have broken hearts.
The lights outside stay on, just in case, and the door will be left open just enough for Hinky to come in, should he return home. We don’t care that the wind blowing into the house is cold and damp.
Friends and family have sent love and prayers to us throughout this trying time. We shed tears as we look for Hinky, and read the messages and texts, and receive calls.
Our hearts are touched by all the people who love us, and also love furry family members. We appreciate so much the care so many of you have shown, and spend lots of time hugging each other and saying “I’m sorry.”
Whether or not we find him, whether or not he turns up somehow, I do not regret having to lead, diaper, dress, and clean up after Hinky. I dont care that he was a grouch. I dont care that he was the boss of me…. He WAS “Sheila’s Little Treasure”, and will always be my treasure, even if only in memory.
