Nicknames – Me and the Doods.com

Goodbye “Mayor” Bruce

Bruce Tufeld, well known agent and personal manager, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 66. To everyone at Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, he was the “mayor” of the fitness center. Perched on his favorite bike, Bruce held court. He knew everyone by name and they knew him.

After finding out from the big orange letters on his favorite sweatshirt that he was a graduate of Syracuse University, my alma mater, my husband and I nicknamed him Syracuse. He had a nickname for me too. One day I walked in with my hair spiked up, and from across the room, I heard, “Hey, Rod Stewart.”

Whether cheering on his beloved Dodgers or kidding someone nearby, Bruce loved to laugh and have a good time. The hours he spent on the bike were like a party. There was a certain energy in the room when he was there.

He had a very thoughtful caring side too. He knew that my grandson had health issues and would often quietly ask how he was doing. When younger people were working out, he’d inquire about their parents. When the parents were there, he’d ask how the kids were doing away at school. Often I’d see him engaged in deep conversation trying to help someone who had a problem.

Bruce never complained, that is unless something in the fitness center needed to be fixed. After all, he was the “mayor.” He had health issues like many of us do but I never heard him complain about them. The last time I spoke to him, he was very excited that he was heading back east the next day to meet his first grandchild. Bruce was a family man. And of course he was a dog person.

Assuming that he was still away, I was shocked to hear that he had passed. The only hint he ever gave was a comment a few months ago. We were joking about age, since I had a few years on him, when he suddenly said, “I’m sure you’re going to outlive me.” Then we both laughed.

I went there today and the room was quiet without his huge presence. It’s hard to believe that this year is so new and that both Bruce and my friend Roberta are gone. They were truly forces of nature. Like Roberta’s family, Bruce’s family is going to hold a celebration of his life.

In an obituary, I read the most positive message from his family. In lieu of donations, they asked “that you love every day and everyone as he did.” Rather than mourning, what a beautiful way to honor his life and to carry on his legacy.

Goodbye Bruce. We’ll miss you but we’ll think of you every time we look at your special bike. Thank you for your warmth, your kindness and above all your laughter!

Grandma with the Dogs Part Two

This post is a miracle just because it ever got written. The two younger grandchildren were here to visit this weekend. Add two Doods to the mix. Throw in that almost four year old Bella is not a fan of big dogs and you have a recipe for chaos.

As I’ve shared in the past, she loves the dogs in photos. In person, not so much. I thought that with Charley gone it might be different but apparently Elbee now looks huge. Her fear of Charley has been replaced with a fear of Elbee.

She may have a point about his size. When I was walking the dogs this morning, someone driving by saw Elbee and called out, “Wow, big dog!”

ELBEE In case she forgets to mention it, someone else yelled out “hey, super cute.”

As you can imagine, Elbee does not take well to being avoided, or ignored and started following her everywhere. He was a dog on a mission.

ELBEE Hellooo. I’m a therapy dog. It’s my job not to be ignored.

Gus was a different story. By virtue of his size, it took her much less time to warm up to him. He practically won her over without even trying. He’s smaller, even with the poofy hair, so it kind of gave him favored dog status. I also think that being a Teddy Bear Doodle, he has the stuffed animal thing going for him. I should mention that Riley, our fourteen year old Golden, lay around like an area rug to stay out of the line of screaming.

I think Elbee might have remained “canine non grata” if my older granddaughter hadn’t come over. She’s an animal lover who immediately gave him a huge hug. Not sure how she did it, but she convinced Bella that it was okay to be in the same room with him. She even got her to pet him.

Before the truce, Bella wanted me to carry her all over the house in case Elbee decided to pop out and surprise her, or even worse, try to lick her. It’s not that she’s heavy but carrying her up and down stairs was a pretty good workout. Instead of “grandma with the dogs,” her nickname for me, I should be called “grandma with the biceps!”

ELBEE Oh no, a closet selfie. I should have seen that one coming.

GUS What’s a bicep?

Grandma with the Dogs

When I was a little girl, my uncle, who was prone to giving everyone nicknames, asked my younger brother what was the worst thing he could think of to call me. Fortunately, the worst thing he could come up with was “Watermelon.” I say fortunately because the name stuck. Looking back I realize that this uncle may have had issues. His name was Ibsen.

ELBEE Again with the issues. Last time she thought the rattlesnake had issues. I saw this t-shirt recently that I wanted to buy for Pack Leader. Unfortunately, I don’t have a credit card although I do enjoy window shopping.

Over the years I have had more than my share of nicknames. Elaine and Elliott, two of my closest friends in the world since we were kids in Syracuse, refer to me as “Jones.” None of us has a clue where the name came from.

THE DOODS Hello?! Shouldn’t a nickname have some significance?

“Dingbat” is the name I was given by Ray, my former bodybuilding partner and his wife Tammy. I call him “Musclehead” so I guess we’re even. My husband refers to me as the “little hulk,” another leftover from the 80’s.

CHARLEY I hate to say it, but aren’t they perpetuating bodybuilding stereotypes?

ELBEE I’m just surprised that she didn’t pull out a photo from the archives. Oops I spoke too soon.

GUS I am still so confused by these pictures. As for those tans, my fake one when I was running for mayor looked better.

Are the Doods planning to comment on every name I share? And remember they call me Pack Leader or P.L.

THE DOODS One of her friends picked that name. We’re a little disturbed by it. Do you think any self respecting dog would give that title away?

To continue, my friend who’s as tone deaf as I am (sorry Lillian) and I have given each other very special nicknames for obvious reasons. If we could sing we would have been on tour years ago. We also would have had Bob Mackie on speed dial. That is my alter ego on the left and Lillian’s on the right.

My three year old granddaughter always refers to me as “Grandma with the dogs.” Okay that’s not a stretch but whatever happened to nana or granny?

ELBEE Wait! She left one out. The daughters call her “Crazy.”

Excuse me, that is not a nickname.