The Heart Of Dixie

This was written by my daughter, Karen Gillespie. She said that I could share it on my blog.

My niece, Rachel, was expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Thomas.  They were young and excited and completely unprepared for what was to come.  At six months along in Rachel’s pregnancy, Thomas thought it would be cute to purchase a puppy for Rachel at the pet store in the mall.  It was tiny, white, brown, and curly all over.  It was a Maltipoo.  For those of us who aren’t familiar with all of the new-fangled dog breeds out there, a Maltipoo is a cross between a Maltese and a Poodle.  Rachel was thrilled with the puppy and named her Dixie.

            Rachel loved Dixie.  Rachel was also impatient for her baby to arrive so that she could begin her role as “the little mother.”  Well, since she had Dixie now, she could simply love, cuddle, and “mother” Dixie until the baby arrived.  That is exactly what she did.  Rachel hand-fed Dixie cut up lunch meat and cheese.  She carried little Dixie around all day long in her arms. The puppy never walked on her own through the door to go outside to potty.  Rachel carried her every time and set her neatly on the grass.  Dixie was rarely left to her own devices, much less set on the floor to freely walk or run on her own four legs. 

            When Thomas broke things off with Rachel and left for Marine basic training, Rachel’s babying of Dixie only grew more severe.  Family members began to warn Rachel that once the baby arrived, Rachel wouldn’t have the time or space in her arms to carry Dixie around anymore.  The warnings came mostly from her mother, her aunts, and her grandmother.  These were the women in her life who had, had babies and knew this to be true. Rachel dismissed all of their warnings.  She never got angry.  She quietly disagreed and continued to over indulge the puppy.

            Well, you can guess what happened.  Rachel’s son, Isaac, arrived.  He was all of seven pounds and completely demanding.  Lack of sleep, bottles of formula, endless diaper changes, and what seemed like a steadily crying bundle, took every bit of Rachel’s time and attention.  Dixie suddenly had to eat out of a food dish! What ended up happening was Dixie whimpering in a corner with an exhausted Rachel furious to find that Dixie had used the bathroom in the house yet again.

            Rachel yelled at Dixie and immediately regretted it.  She stopped what she was doing, took a deep breath, picked up little Dixie, and made a phone call that changed two lives forever.  Rachel meant to call her grandmother, but the person who picked up the phone was her grandfather.  He is known to the family as Papaw. 

            Papaw was the only member of the large family who never got attached to animals.  However, he had just retired AND had just lost his elderly father.  It was a time in his life where he found himself with extra time on his hands and a lot of sadness.  He listened to Rachel despair over trying to take care of a spoiled puppy and a newborn.  He asked Rachel if she felt like she could allow him to have Dixie for his own.  Rachel thought on it for a moment, and then said that she could.

            No one ever thought Papaw would grow so attached to an animal, but from that point on, the two have become inseparable. The man and the dog are the two whose lives have been changed forever. Papaw takes Dixie in the car with him and they run around on all sorts of errands. Papaw takes Dixie out on the boat with him when he goes fishing.  We laugh because Papaw continues to hand feed Dixie her lunch meat and cheese when it is meal time. He has gradually supplemented her diet with dry dog food.  He carries her around the house and takes her outside when it is time to potty. Sometimes, though, he just opens the door for her to go out on her own. He has spent some quality time encouraging her to develop some independence.  We often see her walking around on her own four legs. 

            Rachel’s son, Isaac, is three now.  He is healthy, happy, and well-cared for.  He is not spoiled.  He is very independent.  Either he has that strong type of personality genetically, or Rachel learned not to over indulge him after practicing on Dixie.  When Rachel and her son come to visit Papaw, Dixie always greets Rachel by sitting on her back legs and lifting up her front paws.  It’s like she is asking to be picked up.  Rachel always picks her up and nuzzles her for a few minutes.  Afterward, Dixie enjoys running all over the place at Isaac’s heels. 

            It is very obvious, though, who Dixie’s heart truly belongs to.  Her heart belongs to Papaw.  She sleeps next to his side of the bed every night.  What happened with Rachel could have ended a number of ways. Sure, Dixie could have learned to cope, even though the changes were abrupt.  But Papaw needed a friend and Dixie probably needed a little more babying along the way that Rachel could no longer provide.  If you ask Papaw who his best friend is, he will tell you it is Dixie.  His heart belongs to her as well.