I did actually have a few normal pets, well the normal kind of pets. One was Tappi-Bo-Jangles my little black toy poodle. I got Tappi shortly after I first got married. I had loved my parents poodles and so I got one of my own. Right after we moved into our own home, I was in a car accident that left me with severe whiplash, it put me in the hospital for 2 weeks in traction and in a neckbrace for 8 mths after; at the same time I found out that I was going to have my first child. This was in 1973, and Tappi was with me every moment of everyday. He was only about a foot tall at the sholders, but he saw himself as my protector and guardian. He got his name from the song with the same title, becauce he loved to dance with me and for me.
One day, after my son Jerry was born, I decided we needed some sunshine, so I bundled up my 2 mth old son and we all went out to get some rays. While we were out sunning, a big shepherd came into our yard. Tappi weighed in at about 20 lbs, the shepherd dog was close to 100 LBS, but that didn't stop my Tappi!!! He ran right up to the other dog with his little fangs bared and believe it or not the other dog ran away with his tail between his legs!!!
Tappi always slept beside my bed, and even my husband was not allowed to bother me if I was sleeping, Tappi made sure of that. One day our bed collapsed on Tappi, I thought I had lost him. We got the bed off him and rushed him to the vet. He had hardly made a sound, and his tail was wagging. The vet was amazed to find out that all he suffered from was a few bruises.
We moved to L.A., Ca in 1976. One day we dropped Tappi off at the vet to get shots and a bath. When I called 3 hrs later to see if he was ready to come home, they told me that they had been looking for him because he ran out a door right after I left. I was so angry!!! The vets office was located at a five-way very busy intersection. My folks had just arrived from Fl for a visit and we spent the next 4 hrs looking for him. When I came home to see if anyone had found him they all said that Tappi was gone and I would never find him again. I started crying, then grabbed my car keys and said when I come back it will be with Tappi. I got in my car, closed my eyes and said to myself: Tappi where are you let me know. I drove back to the intersection and was drawn to the first street I had gone down. To my amazement, half way up the block Tappi was waiting for me!!!
Tappi was with me for 2 more years until he came down with some disease and had to be put down. My poor little Tappi, but I will always remember him with love.
My husband was fond of cats, so the next pets we ended up with were Blackie, our huge black cat, and Gemini, our tiger stripped cat named after my husbands astrological sign. Blackie was just your normal everyday cat and belonged to my husband; Gemini,on the other hand, was mine and far from being a normal cat. When cats fall they land on their feet, right?? WRONG, not Gemini. When Gemini fell out of a tree (that alone is not normal for a cat) he landed anywhere but on his feet.
We lived in a two story apartment. One day I was upstairs cleaning the bathroom, when Gemini thought it was time to play "attack cat". I had opened the window and was taking off the screen so I could do the windows. Just as I turned with the screen, Gemini took a flying leap at my back, and went right out the window. I ran downstairs afraid of what I might find, but no Gemini. Then I heard a low cat moan, over the kitchen door was an overhang, Gemini had landed back first on it..but was only dazed. A few weeks later we had to move and our new place did not allow animals, our next door neighbor was attached to the cats and said she would keep them so they could stay at their happy hunting ground.
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