Pebbles

My family is caught up in some new chapters in their lives.  Mike and I will be moving into our new house tomorrow.  Laura just moved to St. Louis last week and will be beginning a new job there this month.  Emily is living in St. Louis for the summer and working as an intern at the Missouri Department of Transportation.  And Suzanne began a new job two days ago.

In the midst of all these changes, there was another one.  Pebbles, our 18 year old miniature dachshund, died.

Eighteen years ago, we went to a breeder and picked out puppy Pebbles a few days before we moved into our new house in Houston.  A friend watched her until our move in date.  The girls would have been 7, 5 and 3 years old at the time.  Pebbles was a stubborn dog.  She barked like crazy and wasn't consistently housebroken.  We sent her away to dog training because her barking was getting me in trouble with the neighbors.  It did help.  Mike was so impressed when she returned from dog obedience school.  We could actually walk her around the block without a leash.  She got tired of doing that though and quit accompanying us on walks.  This was her idea not ours.

The kids in the neighborhood liked her.  The neighbors across the street (they had four girls younger than ours) liked her so well they got their own miniature dachshund.

Over the years, she became Suzanne's dog.  She would sleep with Suzanne.  I was a little worried when Suzanne went off to college but Pebbles made that transition to the lazy boy chair in our master bedroom with no problem.  We just had to make sure to tuck her in with her blanket at night.

Pebbles made the transition to the pond last year.  She went kayaking and tried swimming but thought better of it.  The highlight of her day involved food especially treats given by Grandpa.

Pebbles was a part of our family life for so long that we will have many memories of her that will stay with us.  We love you Pebbles.