in memory of a most beloved dog

it was may. i had almost completed the seventh grade. my hair was still naturally blonde and i owned many pairs of overalls, when my parents brought home a puppy on a friday night. it was a miniature red dachshund. however, unfortunately for that poor dog's sense of masculinity, my parents realized that they had got the wrong puppy--they'd wanted a girl and ended up with a boy. so after the breeder made a special trip to bring us the sex we wanted, we had two dogs. because after our bonding with the poor emasculated male, we couldn't give him up.

thus, dirk and diva became a permanent fixture of our family, the dachshund duo with the alliterated names. however, on friday, february 15th, diva passed away.

she was a neurotic little bandit, which made her a perfect fit for the scheidler clan. she was smart and wily. she learned to clank the food dishes when she was hungry. she chewed everything she could get her teeth on from blankets to books to coat sleeves (lately, i've been wearing the coat whose sleeve she mangled and thinking about what a little rascal she was.) she would lick your face until your skin fell off, if you'd let her. she loved us all so desperately. they would follow us anywhere. so many times diva waited with dirk as randi, seth or i sat playing inside a friend's house. when i trained for a marathon she and dirk and endeavored to run with me, as fast as their little feet would carry them, and coming home even more exhausted than me (two miles is a lot when your legs are only four inches long.)

it is so cheesy, but there's nothing like the crazily devoted, unconditional love of a dog to make you feel okay. it is insane how many times diva made me feel better about things by curling up with me.

last summer, i let her out of my mom's house to go about her business, and she didn't come back with dirk. i was frantic, calling animal control (they'd caught her before) and fretting over my irresponsibility. half of a day passed, until the couple that had bought the home the dogs had spent the majority of their lives in called. diva had traversed half of payson to go home. she was smart and persistent, and i imagine that she was longing for things to be the way they were before they got complicated and all of us kids grew up and tried to clear our way through the jungles of adulthood.

when diva was just a couple months old, she climbed up on my back while i was laying in bed. suddenly i felt this rather pleasant warmth spread across my back; however, the pleasantness dissipated when i realized the puppy was peeing on me. i high-tailed it to the shower, but ever since then, i have been wary of unexplained warmth--heated seats always get me worried.

oh man, diva. you will be so missed.