When I was 19 I had a waitressing job at a truck stop. It was my first “real” jo

When I was 19 I had a waitressing job at a truck stop. It was my first “real” jo

When I was 19 I had a waitressing job at a truck stop. It was my first “real” job with a consistent paycheck. I knew I would need to save my money for something because otherwise I would go crazy with money in the bank with no purpose… weird, I know :) So I had always wanted two things really bad when I was a kid but my parents said I had to wait until I had a job to buy them myself. They were not going to waste their money on such things. The thing I wanted the most was a dog. But no random dog would do. I had to have a mastiff. You see, I had met some as a kid at Phillip & Tammy Shaffer’s house… they had 2. After playing with them all evening, it was time to come in. And then they had books about them and I sat and read the books. That was the day I decided to get a mastiff. That was also the day my mom and dad said, of course you can have one… “when you have a job where you can pay for the dog, feed the dog and take the dog to the vet… animals aren’t cheep you know!” So, it was settled in my mind that night, with the first paycheck of my first job, I would have my dog and I would name him Brandon… I was only 8 gimme a break :) So, flashing forward to age 19, after two weeks of working my sore feet every day, wiping sticky syrup off tables for meager tips, putting up with greasy comments from over-fed men… I got my very first paycheck :) As I soon realized, it would take more than one pay check to buy my puppy, and mastiffs aren’t just everywhere so I went to the mall and bought the second thing on my list of things I needed… High top dr. Martins. Lynn Richardson had some and I thought she was so beautiful! I wanted to be just like her and I wanted to sport some docs with long skirts, just like her! So I did :) After a few pay checks and searching the classifieds, I found a breeder. I came home so excited! I told my parents I had found a puppy and I was only going to have to drive to Sacramento from Modesto to get it. They said ABSOLUTELY NOT! I had reminded them that they had said only 11 short years ago… they were not impressed with my memory. My dad said, “He will chew up everything, pee everywhere… puppies are a lot of work! Plus, dogs live a long time. You don’t even know what you will be doing in a year! What if you meet a man but hates your dog?” I came up with many excuses and won my battle by promising to pay rent for my dog to live in the house with me :) AND I had to take Jeff Greff with me to Sacramento to get it. Jim Greff’s brother, Jeff, use to breed mastiffs so my parents said if I took him and he ok’ed the dog, I could have it. So, I got my puppy. I named him Brandon, just Like I told myself I would :) He chose my boyfriends, he chose the places Graham and I could rent… (Do you know how hard it is to rent an apartment with a 150lb dog?!?) He fell in love with my children. Let all of them climb on him and pull his ears. He was a pillow or foot rest for anyone that would rub his belly. He has always been the best mobile garbage disposal a mommy of 3 could ask for. And I am sure I will have his little hairs stuck into all my stuff for eternity. :) I love my dog, my sweet dog. Tomorrow will be his last day as his appointment with the humane society is at noon. I don’t know how to greave a dogs death. It is a dog… and yet, he has been so much a part of who I am. I am sad. So very sad. Today we went and laid in the grass together on a beautiful 78 degree day. I tried to play fetch with him but he was just not up to it. So, I rubbed his belly instead. What a great dog God blessed me with for so many years…