Zinny

Fifty | Garden | Ninety | Twenty-Five

9 August 2022

Tweet

When I landed today at Arlanda I saw that I had a call from my mom, which I knew probably wasn't good. She isn't the sort of person who calls just to chat. I was also 7AM on the East Coast, which is not exactly the time for a chat. And when I reached her she was crying. Crying because she'd lost my dog. Zinners was born on a farm in York, Nebraska in 2009 and Alora helped pick her out and bring her home. Alora and I hid her under a pizza box, so Cara was holding her before she could say no. Names suggested for her included Blueberry, but eventually we settled on Zinfandel - probably the best of California grapes for viticulture.

When we left for Norway we left her with my parents for a brief stint until we could import her there. Norway has complicated dog rules. It was Cara's responsibilty and I don't know why she didn't make it happen, but I hope it wasn't part of her larger plan to divorce me. So Zinny was left with my parents and I asked them to bring her. They didn't. But that was part of Cara's wider plan to isolate me. My dad felt that she should be supported through the divorce no matter what. He helped her rob my house over a year after she moved out, so it's no surprise that he wouldn't return my dog.

And so Zinny spent the second half of her life in South Carolina. When I brought the kids to Georgia from Norway in 2019 to meet my parents and spend a couple weeks with them they told me they would bring Zinny, but left her behind so I couldn't see her. And then I fell on hard times for two years, the pandemic came, and dad got cancer. The last of these softened him, but maybe it was just the pain meds. After three years I was finally allowed to see my dog, old as she was.

The dog I met in the Spring of 2021 was a shadow of the one I'd left in the Summer of 2017. Then we'd just run an obstacle course race with other dog friends, toppling obstacles like they were no problem. Now she could barely walk or hear. Dogs age much faster than us.

Zinny was there for my dad as he died and then was there to comfort my mom for the loss. Zinners was the best you can hope for in a dog: loving, gentle, and dedicated to her people. Yes, she probably barked too much even before she lost her hearing. But barking alawys devolved into tailwagging and licking once the strange people got close. And her her legendary propensity to roll in deer poo was irritating but also endearing.