Legacy Writing 365:300

One time when Lynne was over, she said about Penny, “She looks like a dog your sister would have.”

“YES!” I said, because it’s true. Mostly she reminds me of Debby’s dog Spanky. I don’t think Spanky had as much to say as Penny sometimes does, but she had the same kind of meek sweetness about her.

We would joke that Spanky’s head was too small for her body. That’s actually true of both Penny and Margot; you have to take care that they don’t slip their collars because of their head size compared to their neck size.

Here are a couple of photos of Spanky that I took one fall when I was visiting Kentucky.

Spanky and Gina

Spanky and Josh

When Penny first came to The Compound, I worried because I thought she didn’t look happy. Tim explained to me that Penny has her own way of looking happy–it’s just different from the other dogs. When I knew her better, I realized that he was right. Spanky always had a slightly worried look, too, as in this photo from my mother’s collection. Maybe a tool belt wasn’t her idea of fashion?

When my sister was a pediatric nurse, many of her patients had cystic fibrosis. One of them, W., loved Spanky so much that Spanky went to live with her. Though W. died when she was a teenager, I know that she and Spanky brought infinite amounts of joy and love to each other’s lives. That’s another way Penny is like Spanky.