Suzy

About 14 years ago, my youngest sister Laura returned from visiting our cousins in Arizona and she wanted a dog. A miniature Schnauzer, to be exact (the same my cousins had).

Now, we weren’t dog-people. We’d never owned a dog, didn’t really have any pets to speak of and still pretty much had a full household of mouths to feed, and shoes to trip over.

My sis was undeterred. She lobbied hard. She left notes on my folks bed, she left pictures lying around and she begged…. Incessantly.

I’m not sure why they relented, but they did. The fam drove out one evening and picked out a little Schnauzer puppy from the litter and brought her home.

Most of us were reticent. After all, my only prior experience with dogs was getting chased home once by a barking, snarling, awful dog (which required assistance from a neighbor to get the dog to leave me alone), and my best friend’s yappy dog which always served as a barrier between her house and me standing outside the fence.

Dogs were scary.

I came home that night and the whole family was gathered in the office around a cardboard box. Inside was a little silver-y puppy… with a tiny pokey beard. Laura was delighted and I think the rest of us were nervous. Pam (my other, younger sis) pouted for most of the night at the prospect of having to share a room not only with Laura, but also this new furry creature.

My how times changed. That little Schnauzer, named Suzy officially - but would undergo more nicknames than any living creature should, turned this clan of non-dog-people into a big bunch of dog lovers – quick to ooh, aah, gush, and baby talk any dog especially of the Schnauzer variety. We’d gush to dogs sticking their heads out of car windows, dogs on TV, dogs walking by, dogs in movies, any dog, anywhere.

Suzy taught us that barking doesn’t always mean ‘I’m going to eat you,’ and chasing doesn’t always mean ‘I’m going to eat you.’ She cured me of my fear of dogs. She learned how to manipulate us into giving treats (countless treats); she was remarkably patient during many fashions shows, costume contests and arms wanting to hold her.

You’ll notice in most of these pictures she looks 100% unamused…. But always patient.

Suzy made it through one house move, her ‘kids’ moving out. She was there through 3 weddings, the loss of 3 grandparents, 3 high school graduations, 6 college graduations, 2 new grandbabies (again, very patient), new cars, new jobs, new boyfriends, new highs and lows and she was there to greet you at every entrance into the house.

Over the years, we watched her suffer through Parvo (and survive!), a couple of minor surgeries (resulting in the nickname “Hop-a-long”) and the fear and loathing of haircuts and grooming (one time escaping and running along busy 3500 S with my sister chasing after her during morning rush hour – still good for a family laugh). She impressed us – even my dad - when she sniffed out and killed a ground hog that had been eating the flowers.

Most recently though, we watched as Suzy got a little older and a little slower. It became hard for Suzy to move, hard for her to hear and hard to her to greet us as we arrived.

I got a call one night from my younger sis, Laura who tearfully told me that Suzy had died - She just finally couldn’t get up.

We will miss Suzy. She has truly been our family mascot.

Thank you, Laura, for your begging all those years ago. I think we’re all a happier bunch for having had that little gray Schnauzer in our lives!