Joy Cagwin is a tiny, 3-year-old Yorkie: outgoing, charming and full of zhwah-duh-VEEV-ruh, in spite of havin’ four residences in her very first year.
She trotted right up, wearin’ a pretty lime-green halter, all Wiggles and Wags, when her Mommy opened the door.
“Hello! Happy New Year, Mr. Bonzo! You’re even HAN-sommer than your pickshur in the paper! I’m Joy to the World Cagwin. You can call me Joy! An this is my Mommy, Suzie. Let’s go sit down!”
She wiggled happily while my assistant rooted around in The Satchel for one or two (or three) duhlishus, size-appropriate snacks.
“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Joy,” I said, opening my notebook. “I understand your first year was, to say the least, challenging.”
“Oh, woof, yes! But it all worked out! I am the luckiest grrrl ever. I am, by the way, a Snowbirddog, cuz Mommy has a place in Mish-again AN here. It’s PAWsome. Plus, my name use to be Yanni.”
“Woof!” I exclaimed. “I’m glad I brought extra pencils.”
“I better start at the beginning.” She curled up next to her Mommy an did so.
“I was born right here in Florida. When I was just a few weeks old, I was adopted by a nice man who wanted pooch company during that pawful Duh-ZEEZ everybody was getting when all the humans hadda stay home an wear masks!”
“Oh, Woof, yes! I remember!” I said. “Seriously Soggy Biscuits!”
“Troo. Anyway, during that time, we hadda move back to where he was before, which was a place called MISH-again, so he could work. But he didn’t want me to be alone when he was at work, so I went to live with a lady named Wendy, who was a Super Nice foster person. A little while later, she put an ad with my pickshur on Craig’s List. (I don’t know who Craig is but he has a Very Long List.)
“So, meanwhile, Mommy had a beautiful Cairn Terrier named Code Red who she totally loved, but he had gone to Dog Heaven, and Mommy Absolutely Didn’t Want Another Dog.
Until a neighbor in MISH-again saw my picksure on Craig’s List and told Mom she had to take a look. She did, thank Lassie. An she changed her mind.
“Wendy said somebody had already spoken for me, but Mommy convinced her SHE was the Mommy I was meant to have. Mommy was gonna drive all the way up to MISH-again from here (pretty much everywhere else seems to be UP from here, didja ever notice?).”
I nodded.
“Anyway, it’s a pretty long way. But she couldn’t go right then, cuz she had an Important Treasure Coast Jazz Society board meeting (there aren’t ackshull boards, I found out) an Mommy was In Charge so she hadda be there. But soon as the meeting was over, Mommy drove all the way UP to get me. She hadda nice little leash anna cozy blanket an stuff all ready for me.
“I remember, at first, I was just confused an concerned. I didn’t pay much attention to her. I remember thinkin’, ‘What’s gonna happen to me? Where am I goin’ NOW? Have I been doin’ something WRONG?’
“Anyway, Mommy put the halter an leash on me an set me down. But I was so little I just sorta flipped right out of it an immediately took off for points unknown, with Mommy holdin’ the dog-less leash. Mommy freaked. Had she driven all the way to MISH-again just so I could run away. Even though I had paid absolutely no attention to her whatsoever, thus far, she decided to holler my name. She did! An for some reason, I immediately turned around an came right back to her.”
“Oh, Woof, Miss Joy,” I said, “That’s amazing. What do you think happened?”
“I’m not sure, Mr. Bonzo. I just, alluva sudden, KNEW she was my Furever Mommy. Just like that! It was May 2020. I’ll never forget.”
I inconspicuously wiped my eyes.
“So then what happened?”
“She scooped me up an carried me to the car an snuggled me into my blanket. On the trip back, I only threw up that one time. Then I was fine. I loved my Furever Home right away.
Mommy changed my name to Joy-to-the-World cuz she says that’s what I bring to, you know, the World.”
“I can clearly see that, Miss Joy!” I agreed.
“I LOVE to be outside, runnin’ an jumpin’! I have tons of pooch an human pals. I found out I’m Very SO-shull! There’s my Godmother Trudy an her pooch Mango, a Daisy Dog; Lily, a Coton de Tulear. My next-door neighbor Chloe, a Havanese, just moved in, so we’re gettin’ to know each other.
“I’m so well-mannered that lotsa Mom’s neighbors invite me to come with her to get-togethers. Even our across-the-street neighbor, Mr. Tom, lets me sit on his lap an sets out little drinks of water for me.
“When we go up to MISH-again every summer, I visit my BFF, Miss Libby; an Uncle Chuck an Aunt Vali, who live onna LAKE. (I love bein’ in the water!) Our neighborhood in MISH-again’s kinda like here but with MEADOWS. Everybody’s SO frenly.”
“What’s daily life like?”
“It’s Cool Kibbles. I sleep with Mommy, of course, an I always remind her when it’s bedtime, around 9. My favorite foodstuff is roast chiggen from the market. I also get plain ol’ kibbles.
An, by the way, I NEVER beg! I’m quite proud of that.
“I enjoy watching ‘Sesame Street’ and cartoons on TV. When I watch animal programs, I sometimes get carried away an jump at the screen. (It’s kinda embarassin’.) Up in MISH-again, we are what humans call Football Fans, an we’re always sayin’ stuff like, ‘Yay, Wolverines!’ an ‘GO, BLUE!’”
The hour had passed quickly. I’d been so involved in Miss Joy’s upliftin’ tail, I kept forgettin’ to take notes. Headin’ home, I was thinkin’ of how well Miss Joy’s name suits her. An smilin’ ear-to-ear like a doof, rememberin’ that she thinks I’m hansome. Sigh.
