Our family always had a pet around, dog or cat, since before I was born. Personally I didn't possess a pet between the time I graduated from high school and just a few years ago, when I began collecting this motley crew that now lives with me. And what of me? I was the third of three children. My older siblings were sisters. Susie was the middle child, and Susie was stricken with Down's Syndrome. Even for that, Susie lived until the very healthy age of 54. For all the dire prognostications by doctors when Susie was born in 1951, it was pneumonia that got her in the end on July 2, 2006.
For a mentally handicapped individual Susie was blessed with at least one very unique gift. Even though she was not easily understood when she spoke, a person had no difficulty understanding her when she sang. Susie could flat sing. Our father was a minister, and we grew up in church, listening to and singing all the old-time gospel hymns. You grow up like that and you learn to recite all these songs by heart. Susie was no exception to that, but she managed to take it beyond.
Susie's "discovery" came in the summer of 1971 at a summer camp. She was "allowed" to enter the talent contest. Susie simply blew away the field. From then on until she got too old to perform Susie was a celebrity. I saw Susie sing in front of thousands. Susie has sung in front of crowds as large as 8,000 or more. Susie's heyday would not last for very long. During the final 15 years or so of her life Susie's health prohibited her from performing or even attend church much, for that matter.
All of her life Susie lived with our mother, and they always had pets. Susie had her own special pet, a black cocker spaniel she named Marwen. For most of her adult life Susie's two closest friends were named Marlene and Wendell, so it was only natural that she name her dog after them. Marwen hung around for about 20 years or so. Actually, Marwen was three dogs. When Marwen, the first, passed, Susie got another black cocker and named him Marwen. The last of this line was, naturally, Marwen III. Susie loved her Marwens -- all three of them, and they loved her. About three years ago, Marwen III passed on, and I buried him in Mother's front yard in front of Susie's bedroom window. Two years ago Susie finally passed away after a short illness. There will be no Marwen IV.
This past weekend after running a few errands in town I drove over to the cemetary and visited with Susie at her grave. Before I left I knelt beside her tombstone and whispered, "See you in heaven." Mother's place is near mine, and on my way home I stopped. I walked out to where I had buried Marwen, her burial spot still easy to find because of the large rocks I placed there. Before I left I knelt down beside Marwen's tomb stones and whispered, "See you in heaven."
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