by Diane Crystal
The first time I saw Brandy she was walking down the street with her homeless human in the poor section of town. She had on a faded red handkerchief around her neck and looked very proud to be with her human. The next time I saw Brandy was to actually meet her in the home of a client. This family had adopted Brandy. Brandy seemed used to be passed from family to family and almost immediately bonded and became loyal to this family. She lived with them for about a year until they decided to move to an apartment which did not allow dogs. Brandy was afraid to be left alone but this family abandoned her for several weeks in their old alley home only to check on her and feed her once a day. Several weeks later I stopped in at the local animal shelter (which I hadn't done in over a year) only to find Brandy in a cage looking very scared and depressed. She had a sign over her that said "not good with children, will bite". Brandy was a very overweight little dog with toothpick legs. She had a fatty tumor that was also unsightly. No one had adopted her and she was to be put to sleep soon. I made arrangements to get her out of the human society the next day and took her home. I already had other pets and gave her to my best friend. Brandy escaped from my friend's house three different times and made her way through busy traffic to her old families' new apartment and sat on their porch. No one knew how Brandy was able to find this apartment since she had only been there once for five minutes in the family car. They called my friend each time and she was taken back to my friend's house. Brandy seemed to finally understand that her privious family did not want her anymore. My friend did not really bond with Brandy but her boyfriend did. Her boyfriend (Sam) lived in the country and took Brandy in. Sam was a mechanic and worked out of his home. Brandy was rarely left alone. She finally had found a home that she was not going to have to leave. Several years later Brandy became ill and passed away while in the livingroom. She did not die alone, Sam was there. I loved Brandy and so did Sam. She is buried at Sam's house overlooking the small river that passes through his property. She will always live in our hearts.