Notes from the Post-it Wall — It's All About Dogs!
Finn Himmel
• My brother and sister-in-law adopted a 12-week-old shepherd mix puppy last week. His name is Finn Marley Himmel. They named him Finn after the Star Wars character. I told them, “That’s great! Your Finn will have personality and purpose, unlike his namesake.”
Eddie Himmel snuggled in the author's legs on top of his favorite blanket. This was taken shortly after Eddie brought down a woolly mammoth, which had been occupying his spot on the couch.
• There’s not a day that goes by, hardly a moment in those days when I don’t miss our dog Eddie. And every time I think of him, my heart is overwhelmed with love, and then I wish he was here and my heart breaks. And then I’ll look at a photo of him or go rub my face in the blanket he snuggled with when he would nap on my office couch and I’ll feel whatever the feeling is that is both overwhelming love and devastating heartbreak. I think that’s just called Love, eh?
Wilhelmina 'Mina' Ruth Bader Ginsburg Fendon happy and not covered in her own shit. Good girl!
• Our friend Nicolette stopped by the apartment for a quick visit. She brought her pup, Mina. Mina spent the first two years of her life as a fuck machine in a dirty kennel. Mina is not dumb. But Mina is hard work, a result of being passive-aggressively abused by the monsters who had her shitting out litters for two straight years, and Nicolette has done amazing work with her to make her a well-behaved dog. Or at least, it’s getting there. Katie and I dogsat Mina back in January for a week and back then, one could understand why we, or even Nicolette, would have wanted to give her back or send her out into the streets. Thing is, Mina is so incredibly sweet. Shockingly so, when you consider that she has no reason to trust any humans. Even when Mina shit herself and flung it all over our apartment, we could see the goodness in her eyes. I love Mina and am so proud of how well she’s doing.
• If you’re a person who mistreats a dog the way Mina was mistreated, do the world a favor: Get a gun — it doesn’t have to be a big gun, a small caliber pistol will do. Get yourself a few rounds for that gun. Load the gun. Put the gun in your mouth, tilt it upwards so the barrel is touching the roof of your mouth, and pull the trigger. Because fuck you. Do what you want to your asshole kids, but leave the dogs alone.
Max Himmel chillin' in the dining room where he could look out to the kitchen and family room and not miss a thing.
• My dog growing up was Max. Maxwell Joseph Himmel. He was sweet, as most dogs are, and funny because he seemed to not give one shit about much except salivating for any meal we had at the kitchen table as a family, spending time with my grandparents, and going for a car ride anywhere but especially to the boat. He also loved, loved, loved eating my retainer. I miss Max.
Eddie at his most puppy and closest to the thing he was, and always will be, Katie's heart.
• While my son is growing on me, I’d still trade him in for a puppy. Even a puppy can play fetch. My son sucks at fetch. And even though I understand it would require my wife to have fucked a canine, I was moronically hoping that she’d give birth to a puppy. But most of all, I wish that my son and Eddie could have shared some snuggles.