Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Brandy: Silent Friend and Therapist




Brandy Lynn Spiccia Wilson
September 22, 1995--February 24, 2009


About twelve-years ago, our friends, the Spiccias, gave us their dog, Brandy. I was out of town. Of course. When I got home I saw that she was not housebroken so said she was to be returned. Immediately. Our youngest daughter, Rachel, went running to her Mother sobbing that Dad was going to give Brandy away. The tears of a child are a powerful and persuasive “argument,” so the dog stayed.


Over the years she ingratiated herself to all of us: not by her obedience (that is an understatement), nor by any special wiz-bang tricks. Her only “trick” was her sweet nature. I was told that Shih Tzu’s were bred for companionship. While there were a number of years where I wondered if Shih Tzu was Tibetan for “Dumb Blonde,” this last year she won me over as a true companion.


Living alone, Brandy was pretty much my only constant silent friend and therapist. She has heard it all: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. After one of our sessions where I was emoting all over the apartment, I looked at her and burst out laughing, remembering the words of Dave Barry: "You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're RIGHT! I NEVER would've thought of that!'" On the other hand, as Andy Rooney said, “If dogs could talk it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one." YOWZER am I glad she couldn’t talk!


It ever amazes me how one so tiny can leave such a huge whole in my life.


After all these years of being gifted with her, I can now say the only fault she ever had … was dying way too soon.


Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2009

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

so sad for you pops...

Nat & Annie said...

Ah, that was sweet. Goodbye's are hard....
So sorry....She was precious.

Rebekah said...

Great tribute to Brandy - she was the best dog!

Anonymous said...

The Wilson's gave Brandy such a wonderful home for all those years. All of us Spiccia's really, really appreciate it.