OUR CATS AND DOGS


Our Cats and Dogs Rhea/Chata-Sunny-Sunny/Casper/ Dodie's Lizards? My Monkey?

Our family has had two cats and two dogs over the years that we will not ever forget. The dogs were Lucky in Fairfax, VA and later Sunny in Potomac, MD. We brought him to Albuquerque. Our cats were Rhea in Potomac and later Chata in Albuquerque. All of these pets were Chacones, at least they all became such an important part of our family that we should have baptized them. When we parted with each of them it was a traumatic experience. Actually the first cat was Dodie's. How we lost it was perhaps the hardest of all to endure.

When I ran into the poem that follows it reminded me of our pets.

Sunny The Boy and newcomer Kamir



Sunny With Cissy                      Our Protector                Kamir

The Power of the Dog

There is sorrow enough in the natural way,
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?

Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware,
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy,
Love unflinching that cannot lie.

Perfect passion and worship fed,
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair,
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits,
Are closing in asthma, or hum or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs,
To lethal chambers or leaded guns,

Then you will find - its's your own affair,
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whisper of welcome, is stilled (how still)

When the spirit that answered your every mood,
Is gone - when it goes - for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear,

We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay,
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.

Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept them, the more we grieve;
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long,

So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

Rhea - Chata - Max - Zues



Rhea - Lost On                             Pennsylvania Turnpike

Our own three darling Angels; Dolores, Cecilia, and Monica have left the nest, as some people say, and they have pets of their own, Cissy has a dog named Lucky and Monica has two birds, one is named Sunny, the other is Casper. I wonder why those names? Dolores does not have any pets at present but I have heard her at pool side when she thought no one was listening carrying on a conversation with the "cute" lizards that seem to abound on our garden wall, the wall that John redesigned for us.

Let me tell you why I think they have named their pets with recycled names. Lucky, our first dog, we had when we lived at 4321 San Marcos Dr., Fairfax Villa in Virginia. He was a beautiful coal black, very smart and very playful dog. He loved to play tricks on all of us but most of all on Isabel. He would run out of the house and make her chase him and chase him and then chase him some more. Just when it seemed like Isabel was about to catch him he would jump and run some more. Up a hill down a hill all over Fairfax Villa Lucky would go with Isabel chasing him. This was his undoing. Finally Isabel had enough. She took him to the pound one day. Lucky's last act was to plant one great big kiss right on Isabel's lips.

The next pet we had and lost was really Dolores'. It was her cat named Rhea. She loved that cat, and Rhea had to go to Vassar with her. After Easter vacation of '72, we were driving Dolores to Poughkeepsie. It was a five hour drive from Potomac and we were in a severe rain storm. Rhea had to go potty. We stopped on the side of the Pike which was illegal. Rhea jumped out of the car and disappeared never to be seen again. I and Dolores crawled all over the brush on the side of the road but to no avail. We finally had to abandon our search for Rhea. I will never forget the look on Dolores' face and the effect the loss had on her.

Monica's Casper and Sunny



Casper & Sunny                              Casper

We were very attached to all of our pets, even the impossible Lucky. Then we got Sunny. Sunny became Cissy's dog. She called him "My dogger". Sunny was the runt of the litter of puppies that had been advertised in the newspaper. We went to select one and Sunny selected Cissy. He followed her all over the place. So we took him. Later we noted that he had a physical impairment. His back had apparently been injured. It only made us love him more. He waddled when he came to you because of his impairment. He might have been Cissy's dog, but Sunny was Isabel's protector. We moved to Cedarbrook in '74 and Sunny was with us till we left for Guatemala in '79. I say Sunny was Isabel's protector because of the way he moved around daring anyone or anything to even show any signs of threatening her. Once we were out for a walk and we met the next door neighbors walking in the opposite direction. I had Sunny on a leash, thanks Heavens! As we met the neighbors on the street Sunny lunged at the lady. She lived next door and would yell and throw rocks at him when he barked to warn us of an intrusion in the neighborhood. The neighbors across the street loved Sunny, they requested and got permission to feed him raw venison after his hunting trips. They would bring their very young child over to play with Sunny, who in turn treated him with Tender Loving Care. Sunny was a big dog weighed over 50 pounds. Dogs are smart.

Chata was our last cat and was a contemporary of Sunny's, at least after we came to Albuquerque. Sunny tolerated her, he never got upset with her. He never treated her like dogs are supposed to treat cats. Thank Heavens for that since both were house pets, imagine what would have happened had Sunny started chasing Chata each time Chata picked a fight with him. In September of 1979 both Sunny and Chata made that fateful trip to the pound just before we left on a two year assignment to Guatemala. I guess we could have taken them with us, however we felt it best to spare them the pulgas and many deceases that abound in Central America and afflict pets, particularly those who are exposed to the environment for the first time.

We have not had any pets since we returned from Guatemala; nor did we acquire a pet while there. I learned my lesson on a prior overseas assignment in the 60's when I served as Associate Director of the Peace Corps in Peru. On one of my early trips to the jungle I came home with a pet spider monkey. Isabel made me get rid of him.

A Dr. Dennis Selig writing for Knight-Ridder Newspapers has this to say about pets in our lives: "Pets provide us with some of our warmest, happiest moments, adding immeasurable richness and depth to our lives. They are devoted companions who love us unconditionally and with total acceptance. For many of us, pets are more than just an animal they are our best friends. This friendship between a pet and its owner is called the human-companion animal bond. When this bond is severed by the death of the pet, the sense of loss can be so intense for the pet owner that it is difficult to carry on a daily routine for quite some time. Research shows that people who are strongly bonded to companion animals grieve their loss in the same way and with the same intensity that they grieve the loss of a special friend or a family member."

Some of this bonding has taken place with our pets. We miss them all. Well, maybe not Dodie's lizzards!

My Spider Monkey - Dodie's Lizzard



From The Iquitos Jungle                             Our Back Yard

Here is another poem I found in Dear Abby's column.

Alone Again

I wish someone would tell me
What it is that I've done wrong
Why I have to stay chained up
An left alone so long.

They seemed so glad to have me
When I came here as a pup.
There were so many things we'd do,
while I was growing up.

They couldn't wait to train me
As companion and as friend.
They told me they would never fear
being left alone again.

The children said they'd feed me,
said they'd brush me every day,
they'd play with me and walk me,
if only I could stay.

But now the family hasn't time.
They often say I shed.
They won't allow me in the house,
not even to be fed.

The children never walk me.
They always say, "Not now!"
I wish that I could please them.
Won't someone tell me how?

All I have is love, you see,
I wish they would explain,
Why they said they wanted me
Then left me on a chain.




Isabel's Dove In Our Back Yard - Summer Months Only



Read On! Enjoy!





God Bless America




By José Andrés "Andy" Chacón, DBA


Free Lance Writer & Ex-Adjunct Professor, UNM
Chicano Motivational Speaker.