Woody’s highly anticipated new book “STRAWBERRIES IN WINTERTIME: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” is NOW available! Order your signed copy HERE!
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Every Dog Has His Day . . . And Column
Editors note: Woody Woodburn is taking the day off. His 10-year-old boxer, Murray, who is named after Pulitzer Prize winner Jim Murray, is filling in.
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Have you ever been so dog-tired you couldn’t even muster the energy to fetch a tennis ball? That’s how wiped out I am right now, so obviously I didn’t feel like writing this column for Wood-daddy – but he knows my weakness for dog biscuits, so here I am pawing away at his keyboard.
Murray, the guest columnist
Why is my long tongue dragging, you ask? Because my two favorite people in the entire universe were just home to visit me, that’s why! No offense to Alpha Pops and Mama Lisa, but My Girl and My Boy make my heart race double-time and my tail wag faster than a Ringo Starr drumstick.
This is saying something because I adore Mama so much I am her constant shadow. Even if I’m snoozing in a warm sunlit spot, if she leaves the room I’ll jump up and follow her – except when My Girl and My Boy are home.
And for the past two weeks, My Girl was home for the first time in ages. I was so surprised to see her, I did my trademark “helicopter” greeting where I spin around and around and around while simultaneously bucking up and down and up like a bronco with a spur under its saddle. Simone Biles would be envious of my gold-medal floor routine.
At my age, I needed a short nap afterwards, but first I had to take My Girl for a long walk and show her the ol’ neighborhood again.
When I was a puppy, My Girl lived away at college. But two things really bonded us. First, she is the only one who lets me break the “Murray, get off the bed!” house rule.
Second, a few years ago I needed eye surgery and she took time off work and come home from the Bay Area to nurse me while the lovebirds were on an anniversary trip in Ireland. Since then we’ve been BFFs.
My Boy, however, has been my best friend from Day 1 when he picked me out and I slept on his lap during the long drive home. He was a high school freshman and every day after track and cross-country practice I would keep him company when he took an ice bath for his legs. I was so small back then I had to stand on my hind legs to see over the edge of the tub.
Now I’m 89-pounds – “all muscle and mischief!” My Boy likes to say – and we still gator-wrestle on the ground like two young pups. My joints are old now, but I’m forever young with him. He even pretends not to notice my muzzle has grown gray.
Murray holding watch for “My Boy” and “My Girl”
My Boy now lives in New York City, so I don’t get to see him very often, but we sometimes Skype. Some people won’t believe this, but I knew with a sixth sense he was coming to see me five minutes before he walked through the front door. I was so happy I almost flew to the ceiling doing my “helicopter.”
For four days – it seemed like 28 – my wagging tail didn’t rest because My Boy and My Girl were both home. It was nirvana, I tell you, doggie heaven.
So you can imagine my hangdog face when I saw them packing their suitcases. My melancholy was overpowering and the closing lyrics from the Beatles’ song “Two of Us” came to my mind, although for me it’s Three of Us: “You and I have memories / Longer than the road that stretches out ahead.”
I have been napping even more than usual since they left. And my dreams have been a long road of happy memories with My Boy and My Girl.
As I hold loyal sentry at the front window watching for my two best friends to return once more, I am comforted by a quote attributed to Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
I can’t wait until it happens again.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.
Check out my new memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece”
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