Holly

Holly was a wee dog who needed to find someone to give her a new home. As you can see Holly was part Beagle and another breed. Looks like it could be German Shepherd. Holly had family who owned her, but couldn't take care of her. Holly decided the West River would be a good place to find someone to adopt her. Along came my Mum. This was the Spring of 1988. We didn't know it at the time, but this would be my Mum's last Summer. I remember the day just like it was yesterday. I was asleep and Mum comes in and wakes me up to see if it would be OK if she adopted a wee dog. Being asleep I didn't quite clue in. I do remember saying to my Mum that permission wasn't needed to bring a dog home, just make sure Rusty wouldn't disapprove. After I got up and had my cup of coffee I realized what my Mum asked.

By then it was too late to make changes to my decision after the coffee kicked in and I realized I given Mum permission to bring home this strange dog home that we didn't know anything about. Mum was like a kid at Christmas who got what she exactly wanted. I didn't have the heart to say we couldn't keep the dog. The first thing we had to decide on was what were we going to name the dog. There are times when out of no-where comes some devine reasoning or maybe just luck that things come together. Mum and I couldn't think of a name for the dog to suit her. Then like a flash I thought of Holly. When Holly first came to visit the West River, she had a lot of male suitors in tow. Inspiration or what, Holly Golightly from Breakfast At Tiffany's came to mind. If you remember the movie, Audrey Hepburn plays a lady named Holly who also had a lot of male suitors. At the time, we didn't know Holly was with child. About two months later, Holly had Eight puppies. 3 Males and 5 Females.

Holly turned out to be a really nice dog. She was loving and was glad to be living with us. The only thing that didn't happen was Rusty never learned to accept Holly. I guess Rusty was just too set in her ways to make a change. About the only time Rusty showed any interest in Holly was the night Holly had the pups. The night the pups were born, there was lightning in the sky, way off in the distance. It was an eerie night and I had to help Holly birth the first five pups. Seeing how small Holly was I figured there couldn't be anymore. I was wrong, after cleaning up the mess and going to bed, waking up in the morning there were 3 more pups to the litter. This was Holly's only litter, and after the weaning of the pups and the adoption of them, Holly went to visit the vet.

This is the last picture taken of both Mum and Holly. Mum told me to get the camera and get a picture. Holly was asleep with her eyes open. She was snoring up a storm. Little did anyone realize Mum would pass away in a couple of months of this picture. Holly was a good dog and for the last three months after Mum died, Holly would go with me everywhere. Holly would make one more trip to Aunt Ediths in Rocky Bay. But by July, I was moving to Halifax, and I had to put Holly up for adoption. A nice lady in William's Point adopted Holly for her son, and Holly and I made one last trip in the Chevette. She was so loyal and on the way to her new home, she sat where she always did in the back with her head poking between the bucket seats with her head resting on my arm as I drove. The eyes said I trust you and the love was unconditional. I drove extra slow to prolong the trip and all the way, I was second guessing myself as to whether I doing the right thing. To this day, I regret giving Holly away. She was Mum's dog, and somehow, letting Holly go, I gave one more memory of my Mum away. I sometimes think about the good times we had with holly, and maybe someday, I can get another little dog to love.