My Poppy

How I will miss my Poppy...I remembered the first night I met him...I was so excited to have such a warm and cuddly Poppy..he fed me biscuits and from that day, we had our own special routine going on.  When I arrive at the house, I would get a "welcome" biscuit, and when I left, I got two -- one in the garage, and one he gave to my mom so she could get me into the car (I never wanted to leave!).  

Never once, was the Biscuit Box ever empty.  Even near the end, when Poppy was weak, Poppy asked about the biscuits and made sure there were plenty for me and Cori.  I will miss him dearly.   

I had the privilege of being "his dog" while at St. Vincent's and will post a picture of me in his room.  I loved being that close to him and bringing him comfort those 2 days.  

But there is a silver lining, my mom said...because finally Shotsie is reunited with a family member after over 45 years!!  Can you imagine that reunion?  

Poppy, we will miss you more than you ever know...but on our daily walk around town and Willamette U, we know you will be with us    (we usually go around 10:00 a.m., so make a note of it) !!

Sunday night redeux

My mom says I am like "clockwork"...in fact, she does not even wear a watch or set an alarm because she has ME!!  So, Sunday, I am out on "lookout point", since something happened LAST Sunday...and there I see something, and I start barking.  She comes running out again, but there in the waters was a BIG BLACK nutria...in my swimming hole!!  She made sure I did not go down there..because they are mean and ugly.  But, as soon as he heard me, he started swimming away.

So...now I have a new nickname -- Rolex!  

We are all getting excited for the big wedding next week!!  i even get to go!  I have a black tie...I better get it out and get it ironed!  

The Big Rescue

My mom and I rescued two boaters on Sunday evening!!  I was laying outside, while my mom was taking her bath around 8:00, when I saw 2 guys in a big raft.  They appeared to be having some trouble...I barked and mom came outside to see what was going on.  The current was running pretty strong, and mom shouted at the guys, asking if they needed some help.  They were suppose to be at a park upstream, but had gone past it.  Mom said, you have to get over to our side of the river and get out now, before it gets dark.....she had to REALLY convince them that what she was saying was right...I stood by her the entire time.  They finally made it over to our shoreline, with much difficulty, got out and carried their raft up to our backyard.  She offered to drive them to Independence, but they had a cell phone and called their uncle.  One of the guys had no shoes,  and neither of them had a life jacket.  If I had not barked, who knows what would have happened!!  

observations from the hospital

I have spent the last few days at the hospital in Portland with my favorite person, my Papa!!

Tuesday night Auntie Patty called and said get up here pronto!  We flew out of the house and drove up.  Mom left me in the car and ran in..in about an hour, she came to the car  & I was able to go in the hospital room!!  I ran up to Papa who was laying in this great big bed -- I wanted to hop up and join him!  He recognized me and was not even surprised I was there!!  

It was a few hours later, and Papa seemed to be getting a little bit better.  All the relatives were nice and thought perhaps it was my appearance that helped Papa.  If I could still eat "Nordstrom pink cookies", I would claim the recognition and make them all buy me cookies to reward me.  Actually, I think the credit goes to Auntie Mary Ann, who brought Fr. Rick for blessings and the prayers by everyone that night.  

Also credit has to be given to Nurse Helga.  The next day, Helga came in and said to Papa...you are not "on the bus" today and you will not be "on the bus" tomorrow!  I did not know what she meant by "the bus", but my mom told me.  So, when walking today, we were stopped at the corner, and the city bus stopped -- I ran the other way!  No way was I getting on the bus!  

Now, every day there is a yellow school bus I see parked on Vitae Springs Road.  I told mom it is a good thing we lock the gate, so that bus does not come down our lane to pick us up!!

There are more observations that I will write about later!  Tomorrow is Papa's birthday and I can hardly wait to see him again!  

January 16th - a great day

We soon will be approaching January 16, a "holy" day in the Buck family.  We remember this day as St. Shotsie's Birthday and Brother Berard's feastday.  

And we need to add another event to this day, as my mom just remembered that this is the day the Guide Dogs for the Blind called her and said they had a dog for her to meet -- named Kennedy!!   Yes, this is the day when I learned I had someone coming in to probably take me to their family.  

So when Janet learned she was having her surgery this day... we said it was a good sign!  

I am progressing as well as can be with my kidney failure.  Am on a strict diet and now weight 95 lbs and have more energy.  I am eating all the right foods.  There has been times when I have not liked the food, much to my mom's anxiety, but we are working it out.  Been stressful for BOTH of us!!  So thanks for all your concerns and prayers.  I do catch my mom eating in strange places...like the garage and the bathtub...but she is trying to be nice and not eat all that good food in front of me!!  

More to tell

I need to add more to our story of Winter Wonderland. 

The best part of the whole event was my Auntie A came and picked us up and rescued us!!  We were so overjoyed.  Mom and Auntie A were wondering how to get me into her car, when I made a flying leap into the trunk!  I stunned them with my agility to do so.  We got through all the down trees and icy conditions on River Road...we were SHOCKED at the conditions our Auntie A drove through to rescue us.

Her home was decorated for Christmas, was warm and plenty of food and drink.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  We had fun playing with Charlie and then Auntie A and mom went downtown for a much needed outing.  She told me to "be on extra good behavior" and I was..I never woke her up in the middle of the night for anything!  I just laid and was a good boy.  We both had a much needed good sleep that night.  The next day we had waffles and went out and played in the snow. 

A thank you is not enough for what our Auntie A did for us!  We love her so much.  A very special angel she was to rescue us and save my mom's sanity!

Winter and Christmas

Merry Christmas to all...and a good night to Mister Snow!  

While we seem to have been holed up at home this past week, we were able to venture out for a few fun outings.

There were a few days of going nowhere...except up to the road to check the ice conditions (which seemed like SHE was doing that about every 2 hours!)...we lost electricity for 24 hours or so which seemed awful, as ice and branches fell.   Mom then decided to make a run for it into Salem. She packed up all my food and gear and tried to load me into the car.  I did not want to go.. I knew it was worst out there further into Salem.  Finally, she pushed me into the car and there was no stopping her.  We made it past some down trees and River Road was closed at Halls Ferry ...well, I tried to tell her!   She was complimentary towards me, and says from now on she will trust me and MY instincts!!!