Mandy

That's me with Mandy, on the beach in Dauphin Island, Alabama, in 1993

In the previous post, I wrote about a Welsh Corgi named Taro who is staying with us. Taro had a predecessor, Mandy, another Welsh Corgi, when we lived in Alabama in the early 1990's.

Mandy came into my life when Dilika, a Sri Lankan friend who lived in Mobile, decided to return to Sri Lanka. Dilika had found Mandy abandoned, and being a dog lover, adopted her. Dilika stayed with us for a while and I came to know Mandy well. Although I had grown up with pets in Sri Lanka (mainly German Shepherds), Mandy was the first pet I had in the USA.

When Fawzia and Roy moved to Conway, Arkansas, only Mandy and I lived in my house on Windham Court, a few blocks from the University of South Alabama, where I taught. She was a good companion. Having been "abandoned" twice, Mandy grew attached to me. At night, she would crawl under my bed and sleep there. When I drove to Conway, about 500-miles from Mobile, Mandy would travel all the way under my seat! Despite all my efforts, she wouldn't budge. So I would rest frequently at rest stops on the way just to give her a break.

When I decided to move to Hong Kong, Mandy went to Conway to live with Fawzia and Roy. By now, Fawzia had bought her own house which had a large backyard. Mandy thrived there. She would dig under the fence to roam the neighborhood and occasionally scared the mailman off! She also loved to walk, and the morning and evening walks were the high point of her life. When she knew that her meals were going to be served, Mandy would run about 10 circles round the yard before gobbling up the food.

Snoopy, a Lahsa Apso, wandered into the house and refused to leave. So he was adopted. Mandy merely tolerated him, always making him aware that she was the #1 pet in the family. One day, when Snoopy was taken for grooming, Roy discovered that he was skin and bone; Mandy had been eating most of his food! Incidentally, Fawzia did not feed them dog food. They loved the rice and curry.

When Fawzia, too, decided to move to Hong Kong, in 1996, Mandy and Snoopy were adopted by Miriam, a colleague of Fawzia's at Central Arkansas University. Later, Miriam moved to Washington DC and the pets moved with her. I always wondered if Mandy would remember me. My doubts were put to rest a few years ago when Mandy and Snoopy came to spend a couple of days at Fawzia's place in Maryland, USA. Mandy responded as before to my calls for "Mandy Girl". One early morning, I found her crawling up the staircase, one step at a time, probably looking for me.

Mandy and Snoopy are an elderly couple now!




Recent photo of Mandy. She must be over 14 years now.