Kristal - aka. Krissy Krissy, Girl Dog - 1992(?) - July 19, 2007

Now you have to realize something from the start. This whole blog is how Ed sees it. If you ask the kids or Nanc about how we came to be adopted by Kristal, you are more than likely going to get a different story than the one I am baout to spin. I suggest you stick with mine because my memory is better than all of theirs put together...

Kristal came to us, as close as we can remember, at some point in 1994. She was a stray in the neighborhood and Nanc was determined to rescue this dog come hell or high water. She had been in and around the neighborhood for at least a week, maybe longer, before we able were to coral her into the backyard with pieces of pizza.

A day or two before that, I had tried to approach her. She was hiding in some bushes in a neighbor's yard. I could see how frightened she was so I gingerly crept towards her. If I went any slower I would have fallen down. The noise that came from her when I was about 20 feet away was a sound I had never heard from a dog before. It wasn't a growl or a bark but almost a shriek or a scream. This poor dog was about as stressed as I had ever seen an animal, or a human for that matter. I knew she'd fit right in...

So the kids laid a trail of pizza into the yard and she followed it. Those first few months, she acclimated well to Nanc and the kids but wouldn't come near me or any man for that matter. In fact, she was most agitated when large men with beards and caps would come into the house. I'll let you paint the rest of that picture...


Anyway, at least a month had gone by and she still wasn't having any of me. Until one day, as I was sitting at my desk typing away at some meaningless computer project, she came up from behind, put her paws on my shoulders and nuzzled her snout into my neck. I told her that if she was going to continue to play hard to get, her little tease would be wasted. She wasn't and I was hooked.

You couldn't ask for a more gentle and loving dog as Kristal. She was the queen of Atley's bed, loved to have her belly rubbed, couldn't stand to have flies in the house, (that really used to drive her nuts) had stomach and seizure problems and a heart as big as a lot of people...

She went out this morning with grace, dignity and lots of love. We were all there with her as she died, in her favorite spot, smack dab in the the middle of our bed. She is already missed. Especially by her boys...


xoxo