On a hot and
bored summer day in 1982, Mom had taken a friend and me to the
Fort Worth Museum of Art and History, probably my 26th visit to
the place. We were making our way to the cool-rush of the
opening glass doors and already I was anticipating the soon
reunion with my favorite two, full-scale skeletal dinosaurs
inside when my mother exclaimed, "HOLD IT" and
uncharacteristically began a foot-scooting sprint across the
parking lot in her flip-flop sandals, purse bouncing and
thrashing her along the way. Two twelve year old girls couldn't
resist the intrigue of such strange behavior and followed suit,
flip-flops scooting but sans the purse. To our delight, the
emergency turned out to be the regular Fort Worth Kennel Club
All-Breed dog show held next door at the Amon Carter convention
center. As we had been crossing the pavement to the museum's
doors, mom had spotted a couple likewise crossing the convention
center's parking lot. The difference, however, between us and
them was that we had nothing to do; they had a Saluki.
These nice
folks, I don't even know if I ever knew their names, referred us
to some other nice folks who had Saluki puppies for sale. I
learned in the next week or so after our meeting (where I said
little more than "Hi" and "can I pet your dog") that my mother
had always wanted a Saluki. She'd seen one in the Encyclopedia
when she was 18 years old and now, here we were, driving an hour
and a half home with one in my lap. His name was Akkad Al-Saadah,
but we just called him Ace. He was three times Ch Jen Araby Mr.
Jay and sold to us as show quality -- except for that yo-yo-ing
testicle.
As things
turn out, the testicle descended, and I ascended into the world
of dog-showing. I finished Ace when I was 14 years old. I
finished my next Saluki, a smooth, Ch Akkad Barahane Wahid
(Bare), at 15. I moved into Italian Greyhounds right around the
time I moved into my first apartment. When Ace died, I named my
first IG, Ch Justa Nother Pretty Face, after him. Then came
Fudge, Ch. Justa Ficionado.
As much as
that single trip to the museum changed my life, it was only one
of Providence's many plans for me. For my 30th birthday, my
husband gave me a Whippet puppy. She was a fawn and white
little thing I had seen at an LGRA meet, bred by Carolynn Bates
who I knew and respected from my Junior Handler days. Jennifer
Bates, Carolynn's daughter, had beaten me too many times with
her damn junior's Whippet (her Ace, and then her Halifax) for me
to forget either Whippets or the Bates. This darling, three
month old gift of gifts would change my life significantly
again. Diva, BIF Ch. Cajen Seminole Wind, SC, CGC, has become
my very best friend, my comic relief, my sorrow's ease and my
future in dogs. She whelped her first litter on May 28, 2002 by
MBIF DC Allerei's Roo's Adair Castle, CD, MC, CGC, FCh, AOV,
CR. Along with 10 beautiful puppies, she gave birth to my
foundation line and to IMa Whippets.
Thank you,
Mom, John, Sue, Linda, Stacy, Shari, Teri, Carolynn and my
husband, Chris. And thank you, for your interest in me, my dogs
and my history.
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