It was a balmy spring evening and I was 12 years old, when she appeared. We heard something out by the back door, and the first thing my mother thought was that Northwest was terrorizing the kittens that we had gotten the fall before. It was a squeaking, rustling sound. The back door had been left open in deference to the weather, and when we went to go investigating, it wasn’t the kittens.
She came in all on her own, a young and lanky hound dog with a gentle face and huge deep brown eyes. My mother fell in love with her at first sight. I think she was feeling the loss of the two blue-eyed huskies that had passed the year before and reminded of that loss when she saw the bond Kerry shared with Northwest and I had with Buster.
So the lanky hound bitch was immediately adopted into the family and the first quest was to give her a name. Something southern and ladylike was the common consensus. While still young and awkward, you could tell that she would grow into such a name. So she became Sadie, the Lady.
Sadie is not a perfect lady, but she is a southern one, with spunk and attitude to match her elegance and beauty. As with all the dogs, she acquired an array of titles and accolades, including “no, no, bad dog” and “Raisin Incarnate”, and her tales of mischief and mayhem are as notable as those of Northwest, Buster and the Huskies.
She is smart, with an intelligence that is at odds with her obvious hound and pointer heritage. She was always the one to know when her humans were upset, coming to comfort them and quick to learn the routines of the house and her people. Her intelligence is one I think that is often found in dogs that receive lots of human interaction from a young age. Sadie blossomed with love because that’s what we gave her, she grew with challenges that made her think doggy thoughts, and the result was a wondrous and brilliant dog.
Sadie’s main playmate was Buster. For her, he took on the role of a doting and playful uncle, always eager to occupy the young and energetic pup. Later, she often resumed that same role with Pearl and Graham.
Northwest accepted her with much more ease then he did the felines that invaded his home two seasons before. At first he was distant and unsure of Sadie’s presence in his territory, but Sadie had to her advantage the fact that she was young and female, and Northwest was never one to disappoint the ladies. Sadie reveled in the game of flirt and play. It suited her more mischievous side.
When my mother finally moved out, Sadie went with her. However, my mother’s love of travel brought Sadie back to the trailer often, for little visits. Dad and I enjoyed these visits, and still do. Sadie, for all she is my mother’s dog, is one of ours too. Dad once sold a gun to pay the vet bill when Sadie almost died.
In truth, the only thing that makes my mother’s house homelike is Sadie. Her habits and favored haunts are as well known as the dog herself. She occupies the computer room for the most part, that’s where she takes her bones and other ‘treasures’ (usually the booty gleaned from a joyful episode of ‘counter surfing’) and she watches her humans as they pass in the hall and click away on the keyboard. If she is sleepy she travels to the master bedroom. In the absence of her people, the bed is her domain, and she adjusts it to her preferences, despite my mother’s annoyance. One always comes home to the blankets and sheets pulled down into a nest smack dab in the middle of the queen size mattress. If the bed is occupied, she nests in the dirty clothes pile by the door. She will survey the area with disgust and frustration when the clothes have been transferred to the washing machine. Luckily, for her, the pile may be skimpy at times, but it is usually never bare.
As she has aged, the black on her face has faded to almost pure snow. She walks with stiffness and a jolting gait that indicates arthritis has taken hold of her joints. On her chest and shoulder are two fatty tumors that grow more obvious as the years pass. In the past year, it has become unusual for you to be greeted by her at the door. Instead you will come upon her sound asleep and when you touch her, she awakens with a start of surprise.
Yet, her ladylike nature is still dominant. She is happy to be awakened by someone she loves, eager to go on a walk and be petted. She still begs at the table in her subtle and gentle way, the only indication of her presence is the warm weight of her muzzle resting on your knee. She still wants to play in the front yard, wanting to be chased as she dances through the grass.
Sadie will always be a dog of the gracious and elegant south. She is the belle of the town and the good-natured flirt with a lazy drawl and quick wit. She has progressed from the lanky pup with a sweetness of character, to the young and rambunctious young lady, and now is the genteel and loving matriarch. She is the last of the old pack and the elder of the current one. Sadie is the transition from past to future.
I have always hoped that her resting place will be with Buster and Northwest, and her predecessors, Bandit and Raisin. Next to the sweet wild roses that grow tangled with honeysuckle in a profusion of green and pink and white. It is the fitting place for a southern lady, where the past is seen with the tidings of spring and future.
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