Fourth of July – Me and the Doods.com

Grandma Doesn’t Know Best

My thirteen year old granddaughter Samantha has her act more together than I ever will. Aside from being mature, sociable and talented, she really knows how to dress. I can only aspire to the way she puts herself together.

ELBEE Sad but true.

Despite my bodybuilding past and the fact that her mom Jennifer refers to me as”crazy for Cocoa Puffs,” especially when it comes to the dogs, Samantha will sometimes ask my advice. She’s considering going to sleep-away camp for the first time and wanted to know what I thought.

Unfortunately, my one and only time at sleep-away camp ranks right up there in the top ten terrible experiences of my life. To begin with, the whole family used to spend idyllic summers at my grandparents’ resort in the Catskill Mountains, a lot like Dirty Dancing, so I’m not sure what possessed me to leave for camp in the first place.

I was a shy twelve year old nerd with glasses, braces and orthopedic shoes who’d never been away from home on her own. To make matters worse, Sharon Clark, the friend who was supposed to go with me, broke her arm in a horseback riding accident and had to cancel at the last minute.

ELBEE She can remember all that but not what she had for lunch yesterday?

After my dad dropped me off, things went from bad to even worse, when they led me to meet my tentmates… three blondes who were best friends! They had been hoping for another blonde to show up. At the time my hair color could best be described as mousy brown. It was before it miraculously turned blonde.

ELBEE One of the mysteries of the universe.

As I was sharing the saga , which didn’t get any better unless you consider swimming in an ice cold lake to be better, Samantha, who is very empathetic, was feeling sorry for me. Probably hoping to find a positive note, she asked, “Well, did you make any friends?”

In the spirit of total honesty, I had to admit that my only friend was a turtle. It had dug a nest in the dirt outside of the tent. I never saw the babies hatch but I did see the little white eggs.

Trying very hard to be kind, Samantha asked if I’d given it a name. If memory serves correctly, it was Sally.

STANLEY, GUS & HENRY That was one of the most pathetic stories we’ve ever heard.

ELBEE And she wonders why she’s not a grandma “influencer.”

On a brighter note, happy Fourth of July!

A Belated Happy Fourth

Yes, I know that the Fourth of July was last week. I checked my trusty calendar and began a post that would have been more timely.

ELBEE She still has one of those paper calendars. You know that expression about old dogs and new tricks. I’ve always found that a little offensive but in this case it fits.

Then I got distracted by Gus’s fabulous In Touch magazine appearance as the doppelgänger of Brian May from Queen.

ELBEE I knew she’d find a way to bring that up again.

In the past, I’ve written about memorable Fourth of Julys. Some were celebratory. Some were beautifully traditional. Some were emotional. None were like this year.

When the daughters were little, there were homemade picnics, fireworks, skydivers and patriotic sing-alongs at the local junior college.

ELBEE Hello! Colonel Sanders is not homemade unless the Colonel is living at your house.

Ben Affleck in Pink Tee with Gus — **Ben Affleck (in purple tee) with** **Gus**

As part of the People Animal Connection at UCLA, the Doods and I have taken part in festive parades down Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades. One year, caught up in the excitement, I didn’t even realize that Gus was walking with Ben Affleck.

For some reason 2017 was a special holiday. There was an amazing atmosphere at the parade. People seemed truly happy to be uniting in appreciation of America, celebrating our history and our freedom. There was a pervasive sense of patriotism, a sense that people wanted to reach out and connect with one another.

2018 was the most personally meaningful Fourth that I’ve ever experienced. At the time, my dear friend Roberta, who has now passed, was bravely battling a brain tumor. An inspiration in my life, she loved the dogs and found comfort in their presence. We went to her house and did a parade just for her.

As for this year I’m almost speechless.

ELBEE So am I.

How do you celebrate our nation’s birthday in the midst of a pandemic? Parks and beaches were closed. With social distancing, parades and picnics were impossible. Local firework displays were cancelled except, apparently, for the illegal ones that began weeks before. I don’t know how that became a nationwide phenomenon.

**To my daughter Nicole on the front lines, thank you.**

As we watched fireworks on tv, many set to patriotic music, I thought about what was happening. I felt a tremendous sadness for the people who were ill or who were gone. I felt concern for all of our front line workers and first responders. I felt some fear about the future.

Underneath it all, I felt gratitude for the way that so many have come together. It’s not easy to wear masks, refrain from hugging each other or curtail normal activities but we do it. In a sign of caring, we have each others’ backs.

A special note of gratitude to Gus and Stanley. They have been there for me and the husband. They have given us comfort, made us laugh and provided unconditional love. Never have we felt luckier to have our own personal, hard working therapy dogs.

UCLA Pups on Parade

I was in the middle of writing this when we had a massive power outage in the neighborhood. I wondered if it was the universe telling me that my post sucked. I’m going to assume it was just a result of the heat wave we’re having and “power on.”

ELBEE If that was supposed to be funny, I should be doing stand-up.

At the risk of sounding corny and emotional, I have to say that the Fourth of July was very special this year. No matter what side of the political, social or grocery aisle (shout out to all you vegans) people were on, there was a real sense of wanting to reach out and connect with each other.

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t run to have Marsha, Gus’s groomer/colorist, dye his ears and tail red and blue as soon as I knew that he was going to be in a parade. She even came up with the idea of putting paper plates over his ears to keep the color where it was supposed to be while she was applying it.

ELBEE I admit that I was a little jealous until I saw that photo. Paper plates on my ears! As if!

GUS It’s the price of beauty.

Since we had to do the color a few days before the event, I sort of forgot about it until I took the dogs walking. Almost everyone we passed smiled and wished us a happy fourth. There was a pervasive sense of patriotism.

On the day of the parade, we met in Pacific Palisades with several of the other teams from the UCLA People Animal Connection. From the moment we arrived, the atmosphere was incredibly warm and friendly. People seemed truly happy to be uniting in appreciation of America. It was a celebration of our history and our freedom.

I had been in the parade a couple of times but this year seemed different. The crowd was larger and if possible more enthusiastic.

Gus was so excited, his red and blue tail never stopped wagging. Before we started walking, he flirted with Ella, a Golden Retriever, and drooled over Gracie, a darling Chihauhau who is the smallest dog in the program in terms of size but not of heart.

As we started down Sunset Boulevard with all of the other dogs, Gus played to the crowd. He visited with spectators along the route and even did a few impromptu dance moves. With the children, he was spectacular. I have never seen so many smiling faces. Okay, once or twice he got a little tired and I had to carry him.

In the other two parades, Charley was by my side, greeting celebrants, young and old. As you know, we lost him this year but we also lost Tovah, another special member of PAC. She was a beautiful Dachshund who happened to be Charley’s “girlfriend.” They often worked events, including the parade, together, with Tovah riding in her wagon as she got older.

I cherish this photo of them. It will always represent the Fourth of July to me. Without even trying, Gus is once again following in his big brother’s paw prints. He’s carrying on in the tradition of Charley and Tovah, making them both proud.

I’m a Yankee Goldendoodle Dandy

THE DOODS Let us make it clear that we are in no way responsible for the title of this post.

When the daughters were little we used to have big fancy gourmet picnics for the fourth of July. Just kidding! We’d actually grab some Colonel Sanders and an old blanket and go watch fireworks at a local college. They had sky divers, games, and a petting zoo so it was a pretty good celebration.

One year we decided to buck tradition and go to a stadium where Pat “April Love” Boone was singing. Unfortunately it was during his heavy metal phase! It was painful.

The only thing I really miss are the patriotic sing-a-longs with my dear friend Lillian. Neither of us can carry a tune but we’ll belt out “America the Beautiful” with the best of them as long as no one can hear us.

Lillian and I have five daughters between us. They should be relieved that neither of us can sing or we would have taken our act on the road years ago.

These days we’re happy to stay home with the Doods on the fourth. They’re afraid of all the noise and chaos so we keep them in the house and watch fireworks on tv.

ELBEE Excuse me, who says we’re afraid? Speaking for myself, I’m kind of an adrenaline junkie. I’m more afraid of her singing!

GUS Okay, I’ll admit it. All that noise makes me a little nervous. I’ve heard they have special calming vests but I don’t want to seem like a wimp.

CHARLEY What Pack Leader neglected to mention is that she jumped all over this holiday as an excuse to dress us up…again. As you may know, I’ve been in a few parades on the fourth and the costume was appropriate. But wearing it around the house is a little over the top for my taste.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!