My Pets

Here are some old photos that I have of my pets.

Hitchcock Era (1954 to 1973)




This is "Boxer". I can barely remember him.




This is "Mickey". He lived in this pen his entire life. He never, ever left, not even for vet visits. The pen was about 20' x 20'. It was adjacent to our large backyard, well over an acre in size. Why wasn't he allowed to play there? An even better question was, why did I not question that?!? I don't recall there even being a gate to go in his pen. I recall having to climb over the fence to play with him. But I did that far fewer times than I should have. Looking back, I feel sorry for him. And guilty for not doing anything about it.




This is me with "Bimbo", a helluva thing to name a male dog. My mother gave him that name. He lived in the big part of the backyard. He died on one cold spell, frozen by the fence, even though he had an electrically-heated dog house. As a kid, it was disconcerting to help my dad pry his body, frozen solid, out of the snow.

In the distance, to the right, you can see Mickey's pen.




This is my cat, "Kiki".




This is my last dog from the Hitchcock years, "Prince".

Michigan City Era (1978 to present)


This is "Tara" (1982? - September 25, 1996). Adopted from the Michiana Humane Society.




This is "Jasper" (1978? - March 31, 1997). Originally adopted from the Humane Society in Lake county.




This is "Tabatha" (? - 2000). She was Rita's dog, but I took her for many, many hikes in the Dunes and other state parks. For some reason, I have an especially fond memory of me and Tabatha driving on Range Road, north of Toto. We were coming back from Tippecanoe River State Park. It was late Spring, a beautiful day, and fields along the road were a little flooded. Even to this day, when I drive that section, I remember that day.




This is "Ty-ty" (2000 - March 20, 2010). This was a feral cat from the neighborhood that Rita took in on October 1, 2000, one day before Rani's arrival.




This is "Rani" (1999 - January 9, 2013). Rani was adopted from the Michiana Humane Society on October 2, 2000. A very sweet dog.




This is "Loki" (2003 - May 16, 2014). Adopted from the Michiana Humane Society in August, 2003.




This is "Trooper" (? - February 19, 2011). She was a Pomeranian that someone dumped out in the Dunes. Rita and me found her and rescued here in August, 2005. Rita always complained that all of our pets seemed to like me best, but Trooper absolutely adored Rita.




This is "Blix" (2005? - September 25, 2018). Blix was a cat who someone dumped out in the Dunes at the same location where we found Trooper (at the corner of Central Avenue and Beverly Drive in the town of Beverly Shores. Best cat ever.




This is "Mama Kitty" (2018? - ). She was an alley cat that gave birth to four kittens behind our shed. We were going to go the trap, neuter and release route for her and her kittens, then Rita and me decided to try to socialize them and find homes for them. After our last set of pets, we couldn't handle any more heartbreaks. But we only found one good home for one of the kittens, Dusty. The other three kittens we kept (Goldie, Boots and Pippen).




This is "Goldie" (2019 - ). A very sweet cat. We almost gave her away to one of Rita's co-workers. But Providence stepped in and prevented that, of which we were glad... it wouldn't have been the best home for her. The person who wanted Goldie was a 40-something skank who acted like a teenager.




This is "Dusty" (2019 - ). This is the only pet that I have ever given away. Sometimes Rita and me regretted given her away, but she ended up in a very, very good home.




This is "Boots" (2019 - ). A sweet cat, but afraid of everything.




This is "Pippin" (2019 - ). He was the runt of the litter. But after we brought him in, and fed him, he is now the biggest of them all. He is still very attached to his mother.