Misha - Tim Dalton & Ann Somers - 2000s

Misha was such a princess! Her bearing and appearance fit her name* (and vice versa). She would prance when Ann walked her so that she would get pats on the head as she walked! *Her name in Russian is a nickname like the famous ballerina who defected. It means "He who is a god," so she was in charge. A beautiful (red) Golden Retriever, she and her brother Bubba were quite the pair -they were always together until Misha got cancer. Misha then went to the UofM for treatment and stayed under a nurse's desk. Misha in particular had fear aggression - she would bark at big horses, etc. while shaking like crazy. She got this way because when she and Bubba were little, there was a big storm up at Peterson's place. Tim was in a tent, the dogs were in a screen tent. In the morning, Tim found the tent had collapsed on them. Here are some pics of the dynamic duo:



Misha was a princess 'til the very end. What a beautiful golden retriever!

Turk - LaMoores - 1970s & 80s

Turk! What a great dog. He was a big black lab with the most skilled begging face I've ever seen! He had already been part of the family when I met Louie. We went on many walks down into the river valley with Turk. Usually, Trouble and her mom followed too.

I'll have to add more memories later. I've gtg!

Minnie - Somers - 1970s

I barely remember this cat. She had been my Uncle Cyril's, but he couldn't keep her in his new home. When I took her, I kept her in my Grandma's basement. (Honestly, I don't even remember if this was while she was still alive, or when we were renting the house out to other people.)

I loved to pet her and love on her, but not for long . . . I don't think I was up for all the responsibility, and I'm not sure what happened to her. If/when I find a photo of her, I'll post it. (I think I have one.)

An older cat memory - for some reason, we had a momma cat at our house. I was a little kid, but in school already. Our pregnant cat was under my bed. When I sat on the bed and heard her loud purring, I looked underneath and saw her litter around her. I screamed something (I think I'll need my parents to fill in this part) and was excited to hold the baby kittens.

Princess - Somers - 1970s

I'm starting with the family pet I first encountered. As a kid, I was told that we couldn't have pets because my sisters were allergic to cat and dog fur. "Can we get rid of my sisters and get a dog instead?" was my alleged response. I'm not sure why my parents agreed to keeping Princess for part of a year. Her owner, the Deviches, were moving to Duluth. We had this beautiful Dalmation for a short time, but I fell in love with her!

A dog's love is unconditional. She was always up for a hug, a walk, or a slobbery kiss. I'll never forget the time I was walking her on Aldrich and some older kids started teasing me and being mean. She went from perfect pup to snarling protector in a trice! They didn't bother me anymore.

My other favorite Princess story is how we fed her. My mom thought it was criminal to pay money for dog food when there were so many starving humans in the world. Since my aunt was principal of Anunciation School, she would bring home the food that kids didn't eat at lunchtime. She brought us LOTS of PBJs and other stuff from kids' home-packed lunch. None of us kids were thrilled about eating recycled lunches, so my mom fed it to Princess. After a few weeks of eating leftover sandwiches, she was getting a big rotund. When the Deviches saw her, they almost had heart failure. "WHAT have you been feeding her?!?!?" Not long after that, they took her to Duluth.

Sometime when I'm digging through my photos, I'll find one of her to scan and post with this.