Broken Heart

My mom, brother & I met a lady a couple of years ago with a car full of puppies. Each pup had great big eyes and sweet black, brown & white faces. Will & I each got to pick one out. Will picked the runt and we named him Oliver after Oliver Twist. He was definitely the smallest of the group but was certainly not lacking for energy or appetite. I picked out the largest in the pack. When we got home he immediately went to his kennel. He'd come out to eat & snuggle and then would go back to his "jail" voluntarily. We called him Otis.

We took them to the beach with us, where they proceeded to eat and then defecate sand for a week. We got stopped by a shady young man who would not leave my mother alone about how much we wanted for them. I thought Sean was going to have to manually remove my mother from the situation just to get the fellow to leave us alone. It was also on this trip where we realized that Oliver, whom we shortened to Ollie, also shared the moniker of another famous boxer. From that point forward, Sean would greet the runt with a resounding "A-li!"

As is in their nature as a boxer, they were caught running some cattle this afternoon and apparently badly injured one. Mom & Dad have to find a new home for them tonight & I can imagine they are pretty grief stricken by it. There have been many nights that Otis would climb right up into Dad's lap like he was the size of a terrier and then look up at him with these eyes that said, "what? C'mon, don't tell me that you don't love me..."

I would so love to be able to take one of them (there is a special place in my heart for Otis), but they are brothers. While I maintain that for the majority of their life they probably haven't really liked each other, they should probably stick together. Also, I told Sean that there were no more animals allowed in my house. I suppose I am eating my words now.

Suffice it to say that I will really miss those guys. Boxers have a wonderful heart and a beautiful mug that really only their owner can appreciate. I hope that they can find homes that are just as worthy as my parents', with people who will love them just as much as they deserve.