Remembering Gretel

{ Gretel in 1971 in front of my log playhouse }

Seeing that today is February 11th, it reminded me that this date was the birthday of Gretel ~ my family's pet schnauzer ~ long passed on, but fondly remembered. We always had at least one dog ~ Gretel being the first dog I claimed as mine ~ even though she was the family pet. Gretel was a great companion ~ she put up with getting dressed up in my mom's old formal gowns, posed for many photos and artworks and even took me rollerskating down the street. She was also an excellent mouser and food moocher ~ every summer she would manage to strip the strawberry plants of only the ripe strawberries. My dad taught me how to groom her too, so now I can give any dog a schnauzer/scottie haircut!

One year my parents decided to breed Gretel, so my brother and I got to stay home from school the day she had her puppies ~ he and I sat in the bathtub and watched as our neighbor who was a nurse helped my mom and Gretel deliver 5 puppies! Another was born on the way to the vet to get checked out ~ we named all of them even though we knew we weren't allowed to keep the puppies ~ the one that was born in the car we named Dodge ~ after the family car ~ a lovely faux wood panelled 1965 station wagon. I don't remember what we named all of the rest of the puppies, but I do remember we were sad when we had to give them away.

{Gretel and her pups}

{Georgie with me and my brother}

At an early age, not only did I exhibit amazing talent (ha ha), but I also showed a keen love and interest for my pet ~ as shown below in these portraits of Gretel. My mom gave me a big box of artwork I did as a kid while I was home visiting this Christmas ~ there are some pretty funny things in there!

On the reverse of this one, my mom had written " What are you thankful for?" It must have been a school assignment as 1st grade is also written on the back.

{ my favorite ~ no age, just my name and phone number on the back }