Bear

No, not the Chicago Bears. A different Bear.

Bear - a Yorkie mix (OK, a little mutt, if you must) belonging to our youngest daughter, Jeanette, and her husband. Bear.

Our family has a way of giving ironic names of large critters to tiny dogs. Our second daughter, Becky, and her husband have two Yorkies (not mutts - purebreds.) The name of the first of them?

Cujo.

Last night I - the dogsitter of the moment - took their three dogs out to their kennel so they could do their business. Tank (nothing ironic in that name - you could saddle him) and Sierra did their job.

Bear did something he's done before. He managed to burrow his way out of the kennel. On one previous occasion he'd gotten out and gotten hit by a car. He was injured, obviously. In collisions between Yorkies and cars, cars win. But he recovered surprisingly well.

This time he wasn't so lucky. Burrowed out. Ran into the street. Got hit, and that was the end. The fortunate thing, if there is such, is that I don't think Bear knew what hit him, and he couldn't have suffered much, if at all.

Out third daughter, Kim, had gone out to get the dogs from the kennel, and found two. She brought them in, and said, "I have to look for Bear" - calmly, because this has happened before. Only, this time, she rounded the corner of the house just in time to see the collision. She returned a basket case. I went out, picked up the body and put it in a safe place. Stay in your holes, raccoons and possums. Bear will not be your meal.

I don't know what animals deserve or don't deserve. If 'gators or bears attack humans, do they deserve punishment? They're just being 'gators or bears, and they're doing what 'gators and bears do. But I know this, for sure: Bear, you didn't deserve to die in a puddle of your own blood on Division Street. Even if you didn't know what hit you.

After I finished caring for the carcass, I went to bed. I'm not a cryer, and I didn't cry over this. But I slept fitfully, if at all. The images kept coming back.

RIP Bear. There were lots of people who loved you, and two other dogs are now missing their little buddy.

Gotta go. Thanks for hanging out for a few.