Missing my friend
Recently, I lost a special friend. Hername was Punky Brewster. She was my friend of almost 12 years, and she was a Dachshund. I am a strong believer that every boy or man needs the friendship of a good dog.
Some boys or men have a hard time expressing their personal feelings and sometimes when going through some bad times in life having a loyal and loving dog is what is needed. Dogs are extremely intuitive of what is going on with their owners and know just when to nudge their nose under your arm to snuggle in and provide some puppy loving.
Taking Punky, as we lovingly called her, was not planned. My wife’s mother raised Dachshunds, and one day when we paid her a visit, my wife put this little ball of fur in the palm of my hand. She was so small that she actually fit into my palm. That was all it took. I gently placed her into my coat pocket and stated it was time to go home and this little ball of fur was coming along home with us.
She received her name later that week as we witnessed her rambunctiousness, attitude and spunkiness. Punky Brewster was a tv show my wife and I had watched in the past about a little girl with lots of attitude. We thought this was just the right name for this little Dachshund.
At the time, I was going through quite a rough period in my life dealing with a flare up with my A.S. which ended up lasting about five years wherein, I was home bound and could not work. Some flare ups last anywhere from two weeks to years and are excruciating as far as pain goes. During flare ups I can go months with only three or four hours of sleep at night, which takes a heavy toll mentally. I am not sure if my wife purposely put that little Dachshund in my hand that day or not, but I do know that little Dachshund got me through a very rough period in my life.
Punky recently had several large tumors removed and I was notified that there was another big one on her liver that could not be removed. She had only about six months to live and I was determined to make her as comfortable as possible during these few months. I was going to be there for her like she was there for me when I needed her.
Punky, who had never left the yard once in the three years we have lived out in the country, wandered down two country roads to Hwy 114 and was run over. My heart broke when we found her. We decided to purchase a Crape Myrtle and plant it over our beloved Punky. It will always remind me of how my friendship grew with Punky as the tree grows into a beautiful purple blossoming tree. This is Will B. saying, dogs are more than just pets. I will miss you forever Punky Brewster!