The Pets

Chip was a dog my mom always talked about that was from long before me. We got that damn ceramic dog that was in the dining room as some sort of a monument to Chip. When I emptied out the house on Truesdale, Uncle Nick was furious with me for having thrown away the ceramic dog. He actually crawled into the dumpster after it, swearing at me the whole time. "Chip" was surely an appropraite name for that piece of bric-a-brac by then, as I and most of you had left our marks on it. Years later at a wedding he seemed to have forgiven me for the "Chip incident."

I am told we had a weiner dog when I was born, purchased (or stolen from somewhere by my father). The dog was reputedly so dumb it was hit by a car as it didn't realize part of it was in the street as its front was on the devil-strip.

Alfie was our long-owned dog. She was a standard poodle, that was incredibly smart and even tempered. It would eat anything Grandma gave it, and worshiped her and my mom. My mom used to sing the song "Whats it all about, Alfieeee", and the dog would hooowl away.

The cat was named Pepe, and was fast as a bullet, and a great hunter. I saw that cat take a bird out of the air, leaping from the garage roof. Not sure she ever did it a second time.