Gia Festagallo is a charming Bee-gull, with soft brown ears, those pawsome Bee-gull colors, an super pretty eyes. Sigh.
A nice lady anna young man greeted us at the door. Gia, wearing a pink-an-green flowery collar, stood next to the lady, lookin’ a liddle unsure.
“Good afternoon,” I said. “I’m Bonzo an this is my assistant. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Gia.”
She looked up at the lady, to be sure we were Good Guys. After receiving a liddle pat an assurance that we were, she trotted over. I prudently decided to skip the Wag-an-Sniff.
“No offense, Mr. Bonzo,” she said softly. “I’m not an outgoing, waggy pooch at first cuzza Traw-madic Events in my youth. Now I’m fine once I get to know you, but still kinda reserved. I’m very excited you’re gonna write about ME, and even put my PICK-shur in the pay-per.”
“I completely understand, Miss Gia,” I reassured her.
“This is my Mommy, Kim, an my brother Harlie. My other brother Dillon’s elsewhere.
They’re both COLL-udge stoo-dents. An Mommy’s a teacher. So I learn lotsa intrestin’ stuff.”
Gia led us into the living room an settled into a low, Crispy Biscuits pooch chair with a big soft blanket. I opened my notebook. “I’m eager to hear your tail whenever you’re ready.”
“Well,” she began, “buh-for I was even born, Mommy hadda black lab, Bud, who she Totally Loved. So when Bud hadda go to Dog Heaven it took her, like, 10 years to even think about gettin’ another pooch. An even then, it was only cuz Dillon an Harlie really, really, really wanted a pooch and Mommy knew liddle kids’ puppyhood, or, rather, childhood, should have a pooch pal in it.
“So Mom, Dillon and Harlie, who were liddle kids back then (about 13 years ago), went to the Tampa Bay Beagle Rescue Adopt-dshun Day. I was there after bein’ found wandering the streets of Tampa, a totally lost, scared pupper. I still have Scary Mem-rees about Very Bad humans. Even now, you probly noticed, I’m REAL tim-mud around pretty much everybuddy at first, speshully men. I’m kinda glad my mem-rees are gettin’ fuzzier all the time.
“Anyhow, by the time Mommy, Dillon an Harlie got there, there were no adoptable pooches left. I’d been spoken for, but not picked up yet. Well, Mr. Bonzo, soon as I saw Dillon an Harlie I came right up to them. I KNEW, ya know?”
“I absolutely do, Miss Gia,” I replied. “Dogs Know: lotsa times even before their humans do.
So how’d that work out, since you’d been picked already?”
“Well, the Rescue Lady saw how I went right over to Dillon an Harlie an was all happy an stuff. An she ree-lized that I knew they were my Furever Famly.
“Since the o-FISH-ul paperwork hadn’t been done yet, AND the humans who had First Dibs hadn’t come to get me AND didn’t like that I had some ISH-yous, the Rescue Lady let Mommy, Dillon an Harlie adopt me. Woof! Was I ree-lieved. I was about probly 6 months at the time.”
“It was meant to be,” I said.
“Totally,” she agreed. “Riding home, I was sorta quiet but happy, an I ackshully got my NAME durin’ the trip. See, when Mommy was gonna have some babies, she didn’t wanna know whether they were grrrls or boys till they were born, but she was hopin’ for a grrrl, who’d be named Gianna for her Italian gramma, Gia for short. HowEVER, she had a boy.
Then she had another boy. So Mommy said, since she finally got her grrrl (even tho I was a pooch), I’d get the speshull name. I am very proud to have such an Important Name.”
“That’s a wonderful tail, Miss Gia! What was your new life like with your Furever Famly? Tell me about your day-to-day: toys, foodfstuffs, pals.”
“I was Very Chewy at first. Basically, everything: shoes, walls, sox, belts. An I also usta Escape an go flying off whenever a door was open. Then Mommy, Harlie an Dillon had to walk an drive all over the place lookin’ for me. I was used to tryin’ to escape an it took a while to ree-lize I was safe, an had my very own food an bed and FAMly who loves me.
“Altho I exchange Hello Woofs with pooch neighbors, I’m happy bein’ an Only Fur-child. My other human bestie is Marc. He walks me an we play Catch! I Totally love goin’ out in his boat! If it gets bouncy, I get to sit nex to him in the pie-lutt house an be Co-Captain.
“But I DON’T LIKE bein’ in ackshull WATER! Not one bit! Includin’ baths! But Mom dries me off an cuddles me inna big, fluffy warm towel so it’s not SO bad.
“I super love Travelin’! Speshully to Pet Frenly places, of which there are a BUNCH! Liddle EYE-luns called Kee Largo an Longboat Kee; a very big beech called Day-TOE-nuh; Dillon’s uh-part-mutt in Jax and Harlie’s dorm in My-Amee.
“An I got to attend this Very Important, Exciting, sorta SOL-um uh-vent, Blessing of the Animals, started a Long Time Ago by a Very Good Human, Saint Francis, who Really Loved Animals an lived inna town called Assisi (it’s not near here). There were lotsa different animals there an we all felt Speshull an Happy.
“I also LOVE dressin’ up. I have collars for every occasion, sweaters, hats, an costooms. I was a budderfly once.”
Mia showed me a beautiful POR-trut of her painted by a fren. It was PAWsome. She was wearin’ a big red hat with blue dots on it, which the fren made up cuz she knew Gia loves hats.
“My paws-down favrite foodstuffs are steak; PUM-kin; Chick-fil-A kids’ meal; anna Starbucks Pup Cup. An the duh-lish-shus birthday cake my Mommy made me!
“I mostly just wanna be with Mommy,” she smiled. “We watch Netflix an Hallmark, an I sleep with her, an also with Dillon an Harlie when they’re home from COLL-udge.”
Headin’ home, I was thinkin’ about charming Miss Gia. An about a Starbucks Pup Cup.
