Remembering Gypsy/Ginny Padawer

I was 15 when we got Gypsy in Feb., 1967 and then 17 when the puppies were born in Dec., 1968. 

(Gypsy - Egyptian Princess of Memphis)

Gill & Gypsy, Recital 1967

They just were delightful.  They never snarked at each other but would pack up and chase Top Cat on occasion.  I don't remember any issues when our friends or Mother's bridge group came over. Begging at the table was not allowed but food left on the breakfast bar or coffee table was almost always enjoyed by the doggies.  They did get snappy with children around 1972 is after a neighbors visiting grandson  put a rubber band on Polly's nose. I don't know if Polly nipped him or not.  I know we were very diligent with children after that.  Family story says they also grrrr'd at my brother-in-law the first time they met him in 1974......he wanted to sit on the sofa and first told them to move.... of course none did.  He then tried to push one out of the way and heard a stern GRRRRR.  Don't know who intervened on his behalf..

My mother would have called then silly doggies and shooed  them off the sofa laughing. Al never warmed up to basenjis. ...although he is a dog person and wonderful to his own non-basenjis.  BTW,  30 yrs. later   Callie liked Al immediately, practicably  crawling in his lap as he watched TV at my house the year after I got her from Jann.  And yes, I have a picture. He and Lynda visit every Jan. and both Callie and Jack are aloof.  Gypsy, Polly and Twiggy were  a very destructive pack..... dolls, stuffed animals, pens, pencils, library books, shoes, wood window sills, chair rungs, eye glasses,   My mother was constantly reminding us to pick up our stuff and we got no sympathy when our stuff got chewed up .  Grandma came to visit and left her dentures on the nightstand...... they got chomped, probably by  Polly....  She also tore up a pin cushion and ingested  a chunk of it, which my mother told me, passed intact with no harm done.  I went off to college in 1970 and was only home for visits after that.  So, I missed much of  their later years.

My parents ended up in Florence, Alabama.  My dad, a ceramic engineer, specialized in tile and worked for American Olean, Florida Tile, then and Monarch Tile.  My sister and I almost freaked out when Jann told me one of her sons was to go to Alfred.... where my Dad had gone.  Small world...  He was from Ripley New York and graduated in the pre WW2 years. He wanted to go to Cornell and be a vet but he couldn’t, as he had not had the required Latin. So he went to Alfred.     Anyway, Polly was the first to pass away, due to kidney failure. She was his favorite and he was so upset he considered taking her to Auburn Vet School for treatment, including dialysis... but that was not practical. She was maybe 12.  Gypsy passed away when she was 15, I think, and Twiggy passed away from old age at 17. We loved those doggies.

 My sisters are enjoying these photos.... they have not seen them in years.

Gypsy & Top Cat	Gypsy, June 1967
Gypsy & Pups	3 of 4 pups