Apache

This is a story about my Dad's dog, Apache. I still think of him as my Dad's dog, even though my Dad is with his beloved wife now,( one can only hope, cuz he has a lot of explaining to do, ) and A patch( his hood name) is living with another nice man who absolutely will not allow him to wear baggie pants or teeth grills or rap about his bitches whereas my Dad, in his drunken phases, was a bit more lenient.

This is a story about when my Dad was still alive, and living in a place that I will call Solar town west, with Apache. Dad, who will be known as Bud in this story, because that was his name, well Bud got sick, and had to go into the hospital, lets say he suffered from telerium dremens. I went out and spent 2 weeks in the Arizona sun, mostly walking Apache and being snubbed by the third rate ICU nurses in the hospital i will call like Hell you'll get Well. bud was always telerious and talking crazy when I went to see him, but his friends would tell me how they had seen him and he was lucid and walking down the hall. The social worker had called me and told me I had to come to the hospital and make some "end of life " decisions for Bud, and one of the doctors told me that Bud was basically a vegetable, but I never saw those same Doctors or social workers after my Dad was out at the nursing station doing Rodney Dangerfield impersonations. They were convieniently on vacation once Bud was up and reciting limericks for the volunteers. Bud was moved to rehab, and they said he would be there for a month and I should research assisted living places for him. I needed to get home to california, and Bud's good friend lets call her Shaggy, just because, said we should leave Apache with this lovely woman named, lets say Butch, until Bud was out of the hospital. My heart was so touched by the goodness, the faith and Charity showed by these kind people of Solar Town, my spirit soared on the wings of loving-kindness. I was home about a month later when my Dad called from the hospital to tell me that he was going home to live, and he wanted Apache back, and Butch wouldn't give him back. Now,  Butch really was a nice lady, she just got attached to Apache, and was afraid Bud couldn't look after him. It ended up with us having to drive out to Solar Town and buy a gallon of chivas regal and some cigars for Butch, and after much discussion with Bud's so called friends who all wanted Butch to keep A patch, we finally got Dad his dog back.

 The point of the story, if there is one, is that Butch got very sick and had to go in a group home a year after this whole incident, while our hero Bud continued on for a few years more, and passed out of this life at home with his beloved Apache at his side.

 The wonder of this story is that if I had written it for a remedial English comp class, the teacher would have ripped it up and thrown it in my face, whereas now it is published, for all eternity , in cyberspace.