Schnauzer love

When I met Jackson I was amazed that his family was also full of schnauzer fans. I'd grown up with one, Alexandra or "Alex" as we called her. (Yes, yes my sister did name her son after our childhood pet. No, I cannot offer an explanation for that other than she must really like the name!) When my parents divorced Alex stayed with my Dad and we went with Mom. I found an old scrapbook I made for a middle school homework assignment the other day as we were unpacking boxes. One of the scrapbook pages had about 8 photos of me playing with Alex and detailed how heartbroken I was when she had to be given to a new home because Dad couldn't care for her like she deserved to be cared for anymore because he was working so much. (While reading the scrapbook entry I actually shed tears remembering just how sad this made me back then. The love a girl has for her dog never ends! Don't worry, Dad, grown-up Jenna understands that you had Alex's best interests at heart and thinks that giving her to a new family must have been harder for you than I ever knew then.)

When my Mom married Guy he had a giant schnauzer, Dexter. Dexter and I got off to a rocky start- he pooped in the garage and I stepped in it while wearing new, white shoes- but once "Dexter" called to apologize to my voicemail we were able to patch things up. He was such a good, big boy. He was trained to hate teenage boys and I'll never forget all of my guy friends bringing him different treats so that they could get into our house without harm. :) I think the hardest thing about Dexter passing away was being in the kitchen (in Mom & Guy's old house) and not seeing him looking at you through the window. (Oh my goodness. I just made myself cry. Again. Dog love never ends- did I mention that?) He was always right there waiting to come hangout. (Note: Dexter was only allowed on the tile flooring and never left it. Addie- Mom and Guy's giant schnauzer now- is allowed anywhere and even has her own bed in the bedroom. Don't worry, Dexter, it makes me mad, too! Addie isn't even half of awesome as you were.)

In late 2001, we got a new miniature schnauzer puppy, Madison. She's still around today and is the absolute symbol of all things HOME for me. I love that dog more than imaginable. Macy joined Madison after a few years and while she's a good little girl (and SCREAMS when I come "home" to Upland) she's not as tied to my heart as Madison always will be. Of course time marches on and in 2006 Jackson and I were gifted with the most wonderful little white schnauzer to have ever lived, MacKenzie.

This photo is actually titled, "Cutest.Puppy.EVER." on my computer- HA! :)

Jackson and I went through old photo books the other day at Susie's and I was again struck with how similar Jackson is to his dad in his love of his little schnauzer. Charlie's dog, Petefish's Silver Prospector, or "Spector" for short (and with a name like that one a dog needs a nickname!) eventually had to share his dad with Kathi and then Jackson (poor thing), but I think know he always had a special, reserved place in Charlie's heart. Ms. MacKenzie will always be our #1 girl and I imagine her life is a lot like Spector's was in the early years before those pesky children entered the picture. I always get a good chuckle when MacKenzie goes out and "runs errands with dad" because Jackson just couldn't bear to leave her at home.

We used to visit Grandma Mary (she was technically Jackson's Grandma, but I loved her so much that I just call her "Grandma Mary")  in the nursing home and she'd welcome "Charlie and Spector" into the room. It was really Jackson and MacKenzie, of course. Looking at this photo (and remembering that Mary was in her 90s and nearly blind by this point in her life) I don't fault her for being confused. In fact, it made my heart happy thinking that seeing Jack and MacK took her back to the good old days of her own son and his canine companion. Susie always got mad when MacKenzie jumped on the bed with Mary (with Susie being a nurse and all she just couldn't deal with a dog on a hospital bed), but Mary loved to pet her and say hello. I'm so glad that I got to meet Mary and enjoy those times with her.  She raised a great son in Charlie and he in turn raised my "favorite husband" (inside joke).

Charlie and his first "baby" Spector

Recently, I was reminded again of how much schnauzers mean to the folks in all of my families. Guy's dad, Milan, sadly passed away on June 25th. He had a miniature schnauzer, Heidi, and she was his favorite thing. She actually got a line in his obituary reading, " His loyal dog, Heidi, from which he derived much joy, will miss him." (Yes, that line did make my cry my eyes out when I read it originally. Pets mentioned in obituaries get me every single time.) Heidi was featured in quite a few of the photos in the program from his memorial service which made my heart smile. The photo of me with Milan was, fittingly, taken when I walked Heidi for him after his heart surgery a couple of years ago and was still using a walker to get around. Heidi had bunked at our place while waiting for her best friend to recover and was pretty excited to be reunited with him! Miss Heidi will again be bunking at our place soon as Aunt Jan, her current home-provider, is vacationing. (I've heard rumblings that Heidi is hoping to get something other than a baby carrot or two while at our place. ;) HA! Milan loved Heidi a little too much and fed her anything she wanted. She'd gotten a little chunky to put it nicely so when Milan moved to the nursing home, Heidi went to Aunt Jan's "boot camp" and shed quite a few pounds! Milan was fond of saying, "say what you will, but my Heidi is a pretty girl!" whenever anyone mentioned her weight. No wonder that dog loved him. What lady doesn't want love no matter her weight?!) We'll see to it that Miss Heidi has a great rest of her life here on earth before joining her best friend in Heaven. 

I've decided that the movie "Must Love Dogs" could be changed to "Must Love Schnauzers" for me. I enjoyed going down memory lane and thinking of all the special four-legged members of my heart. I, of course, like dogs besides schnauzers....just not as much. HA! :)