Friday, April 15, 2022

APRIL 15, 2022...a Taxing Day

 
Girls. 

This is not one of my happier days each year. Not because taxes are due, in fact this year they’re not officially due until the 18th. Last year, because of the pandemic, they were delayed to July 18. Nah, taxes never bothered me too much. I either owed a little or got a little back. Of course if I have the option, I’ll take getting tax money back. 

No, my reason for not liking this day is the sadness that has occurred on this date over the years. It’s just a day I’m happy to get over with. 

On April 15, 2003, we had to put our black lab Layla to rest. She had been a handicapped little girl that we got years before from a friend. Layla, as sometimes happens with labs and other big breed dogs, had hip dysplasia and thus had difficulty walking or running long distances. We got Layla the summer of 1993, a year after we moved to the house on Ortman Lane. There were some hard times for you girls then and it seemed that Layla was a good distraction for you. She needed your love, and you needed hers. She was a good fit in our family. But as she approached her 10th birthday she was struggling to find the strength in those bad hips to stand, let alone do much else. It just wasn’t fair to keep her in agony so we took her to the vet and had her put to sleep and she rests in our garden all these years later. 

On April 15, 2012, while we were pulling into the parking lot at the Beef House in Covington to celebrate mamaw’s 80th birthday, I got a call from Chris, my brother Dave’s wife, to say that Dave had died. I knew the day and the call was coming, I just didn't know when, and it’s the type of call you don’t ever want to get. When I last saw Dave, days before his passing, I lied to him, sorta. But it was a lie I had to say. My last words to him was that I loved him which of course was the truth. But I also told him I would be seeing him in Owensville. That wasn’t a lie in my mind because I knew I would be seeing him in Owensville, but I was saying it because that’s what Chris wanted to hear. You see, Chris was hoping to drive Dave to Indiana to seek better health care for him in Indiana because she was unhappy with what she was hearing the doctors in California tell them. She was in denial that Dave was not going to get better, but I knew he wasn’t. I knew Dave would never survive the trip to Owensville. But to not cause any more fuss than was needed, I said “I’ll see you in Owensville”. But I knew, in truth, I would be seeing him at Holder’s Funeral Home in Owensville, where he would come to be taken to his final resting place. 

On April 15, 2015, when your mom, mamaw and I were in Florida, I got a call while we were having a sandwich at the mall. It was from our friend Sara who was responsible for us getting Sam, our black lab that we rescued the year before. Sam was at Sara’s farm with the rest of her large crew of dogs. Part of our agreement with Sara when we got Sam was that when mom & I needed to travel, Sam could stay at the farm while we were gone. So while we were in Florida on this trip, that’s where we took Sam. That call from Sara was maybe tougher than any call I had taken in a long time. Sara told me there had been an accident at the farm and 10 of the dogs perished in the accident…and one of them was Sam. 

It's hard to hear the date April 15, without thinking of the struggles we’ve had related to that day. I’ll have to continue working each year, as we celebrate old mamaw’s birthday on April 15, to forget the sadness and instead remember the good times with Layla, Dave, Sam…and mamaw.   

REMEMBER: Never run away from a gun. Bullets can travel faster than you can. 
                            – Wild bill hickock/gunfighter

Be talkin’ to ya.
Dad

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