I overheard Terri’s end of the phone conversation because I felt like eavesdropping. She sounded excited, but at the same time she was all business.
“Yes, I’d like to take a little more off the sides this time, but not too short. Does that make sense?”
It did and it didn’t to me, but no one was asking.
“It’s going to be a blast,” she said. “There’ll be so many new faces, but old faces too, know what I mean? It’s kind of hard to explain.”
There was a pause, then she said, “No, I’ve never been to one.”
I walked into the kitchen and sat down, waiting for her to get off the call so she could explain all of this to me before it caused me any additional head pain. She smiled and held up a finger for me to give her a minute.
“Okay, great, we’ll see you tomorrow at three. And of course I’ll fill you in,” she said.
The call was ended and I sat there nodding, like I had it all figured out.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“Jess, the dog groomer,” she said.
“So, sounds like some sort of big event coming up, huh?” I asked.
Terri poured a glass of iced tea and sat down across from me.
“Yes, the family reunion, remember?”
“No,” I said, alarmed.
Terri scowled a bit and shook her head.
“I told you about this,” she said.
“You probably did,” I said. “It must have been when I was choosing not to listen.”
“That’s most of the time,” she said. “But anyway, it’s the family reunion this Saturday.”
“Oh, and your family will be there? Or is it mine?”
That question got me another scowl.
“Neither,” she said. “It’s Butch’s family reunion. All his brothers and sisters, maybe even some cousins.”
“Butch,” I said.
On cue Butch came sauntering into the kitchen, sniffed the floor to see if anything had changed in the couple of minutes since he had last made the rounds, and then went over and sat on the floor next to Terri’s chair.
“You’re taking Butch, our dog, to a family reunion?” I asked.
“No,” Terri said.
“Oh good, for a moment–“
“We’re taking Butch to his family reunion. You, me and Butch. It will be so much fun,” she said.
My mind raced, careening from one thought to the next in search of an excuse to not attend. Maybe the pool needed a major cleaning. I could do it myself this time and save the money. Or maybe there was a painting project we had long put off that really, really needed to get done. Now.
“I just can’t wait to meet his brother, and I’m told he has two sisters,” Terri said. “Last I heard there may be some other dogs from another litter his mother had. It’s a really big event.”
I envisioned dogs milling about sniffing each other, and their owners standing around making small talk. I thought of calling my dentist to see about an emergency cleaning.
“People are driving hours just to be part of this,” Terri said.
Her enthusiasm for the canine gathering was both admirable, and frightening. So were the potential logistics of the event.
“By any chance, are we some of those people driving for hours to reach this…reunion?” I asked.
“Oh, no, we got lucky. The woman that’s organizing it is just outside Center City, so we have it easy.”
“Thank goodness,” I said, relieved at the prospect of a ninety-minute drive versus a half-day road trip to meet dogs and owners I’m not interested in.
I looked down to see Butch staring up at me. He had the same blank look on his face that he usually did, his default setting. He kept the blank stare locked on me and made me feel a bit guilty for not showing more enthusiasm for his big get together.
“Okay, okay,” I said to him. “It’ll be fun.”
He waddled over and sniffed my leg, then sat next to me. It didn’t take a lot for Butch, or most dogs to decide your were worth spending time with. A kind word, or even just an acknowledgement was all that was needed most of the time.
“How does one find out about these dog events?” I asked.
“Through this company, Doggie DNA. You just send in a little saliva and its gets tested and then matches are found and next thing you know, we have Butch’s family tree,” she said. “I got an email from one of the specialists saying Butch was a match with three other dogs. He asked if it would be all right to connect us. And a few hours later a woman who says she owned Butch’s mom was arranging this great get together.”
I scratched the top of Butch’s head and felt a tingle of excitement for the little guy. Maybe he really misses his siblings. Maybe he has no clue he has siblings. Quite possibly he knows, but would much rather spend the afternoon on his back with all four paws in the air. He was a tough one to get a read on.
Terri was checking something on her phone. “Oh, Linda, says she’s made special collars for the gang, and even has small wrist sized replicas for all the humans that the dogs are bringing,” she said, with a little laugh.
“I guess that’s breeder humor or something, the humans the dogs are bringing,” I said.
Terri was still checking her phone. “And look, she included links where we can get t-shirts made with Butch’s picture. Let’s get a few to wear. “
I looked at Butch. He was eyeing me with a look I interpreted as a cry for help.
“It’s too late,” I said. “The wheels are in motion. We’re going to need to lean on each other.”