A Dog Named Joe
Grandma (Zeda (Lachney) Richmond) has always been one to tell us family stories, for as long as I can remember. With her recent passing I thought I should get them written down so that I will always have them and be able to share them with other family members as well. So welcome to my first posting of Grandma’s Tales From Life in West Virginia.
As a child, Zeda’s family had a dog named Joe. They got Joe because he followed her Dad (who is also Joe) home one day from the coal mines. The family really loved this dog.
One day, the dog was hit by a car and died. The girls and their Mom, Mary, were on the porch of the house, just crying. The neighbors had started to show up, hugging Mary and offering their condolences. Saying how much the liked “Joe”. As one neighbor was hugging Mary and offering his condolences, Joe came out of the house and the neighbor exclaimed, “Joe what are you doing, we thought you were dead!”
Our lesson from this family story is…
Do not name your dog after a family member, can tend to cause too much confusion later on.
Good for you. Those stories need to be recorded. What a great way and place to do it!
Keep these ancestor stories coming!
Bill 😉
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/
Author of “13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories”
I like this story because it is similar to one involving my late, great Boston Terrier. His name was Buster; one day I walked into the living room to find him dead on the floor.
I was surprised and flustered, so I called my husband at work. A co-worker answered his phone, and I blurted out, “Buster is dead; he is laying on the living room floor!”, before I realized it was not my husband on the line.
I guess the co-worker went gray, and handed the phone over like it was hot. As my father-in-law said, “I know of some guys named Buster.”
Pam,
How terrible to walk in and find your dog had passed. I do not think we realize how much they are apart of our family until they pass.
Okay, I must have a warped sense of humor.While I understand and feel for the loss of a pet. How funny about the neighbor and the dad. “rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated”
Frances.
Frances, thanks for stopping by and reading. As for the warped sense of humor, that is the sense of humor my family has. As Grandma told this story she was laughing so hard!