The Last All-American Girl

We interrupt this blog to bring you this special tribute. Our irregularly scheduled blog will return later this week to bring you 7 weeks’ worth of Baby Bosco updates…..

You never think the call is THE call. You see that number come up on the phone and you briefly wonder before answering if it’s THE call. But when it’s THE call you always just answer as if it’s not THE call…..

She loved all creatures great and small, but especially dogs and horses. Over the last few years, we have considered getting a dog and she was a priceless font of information on breed specifics. (Don’t worry concerned readers; the dog subject is currently off the table given events of the last 7 months…)

I always liked that she NEVER, EVER spoke in absolutes about dog breeds. She ALWAYS saw the good in ALL dogs…and all PEOPLE, too. Subliminally, she taught me owners don’t pick the dog. If I mentioned a dog breed that she had some concerns about, she’d still find something positive to say about the breed or seamlessly transition to another breed’s positive traits. Because THAT’S what dog lovers do…

For example, recently, I had become partial to the Finnish Spitz.


When I mentioned this to her, she sat back in her chair and thought for a moment and then looked at me earnestly and said, “You know…when I worked at the groomers and a dog was brought in for service with a curly tail…to me that meant ‘time for a coffee break!’…ya’ know?”

And then she followed that up with, “They (curly-tailed dogs) are by no means bad dogs and I don’t mean to imply you shouldn’t consider one, but curly-tailed dogs are just inconsistently unpredictable. I’d see the SAME curly-tailed dog come in and be serviced by the SAME groomer and have a completely different experience each time. On the first visit, the dog was a sweetheart, but on the second it might be a nightmare…”

And on the conversation went. I had stopped glancing at the clock after an hour…

Finally, I threw up my hands in confusion and said, “Well…what about Sue?!?!?!” (her and John’s border collie)


“Oh no!”, she laughed nervously, “you really DON’T want a border collie!” And I knew right then that what she was REALLY saying was that selecting and owning a dog is very serious business. It was fun and rewarding, but it is serious business. Just because I might like Sue as a dog, doesn’t qualify border collies on the whole as a breed. And, perhaps more importantly an entire breed does not speak too, too much about a single dog. Sure, there are traits and trends but you have to evaluate each dog in and of its own merits.

Hearing her laugh echoing in the kitchen at first Henning and more recently Silent Meadow, while I was standing in the bitter cold of the driveway on another wintry Buffalo night, was a sound of the holidays that I will truly miss. Her smile lit up every room and her hugs told me I was home, even if I didn’t live there.

I haven’t checked the results on Wall Street today, but I have no doubt there are many top people at Mars, Inc. scratching their heads working late at their offices tonight trying to comprehend why their stock price likely fell sharply today and cross referencing that fall to Peanut M&M’s sales in the Western New York region. If there was a bag up for grabs at the annual holiday gift exchange, then she made sure to make her move.

Whenever I saw her eating them, I’d tease her with a wink and say, “You’re just picking out the sour ones, right? So, no one else ‘stumbles’ into them?”

“Yup!”, she’d always respond with a look of a kid with their hand in the cookie jar even though she had earned those Peanut M&M’s fair and square! She liked the holidays. It meant great food and drink, better friends and family and of course, the best conversations.

She worked hard in the kitchen on Bills’ game days to insure all members of the couch brigade would be properly fueled, only to see her efforts consumed in minutes by those stout enough to make the silent and scenic drive out to the living room in Colden.

The last time I saw her she was “scolding” John in the driveway at Henning for playing the Emerson, Lake and Palmer albums (which I had recently sent John) too loud in the car on the ride over that day. John and I were “scolding” her right back with mock incredulity saying, “It’s Emerson, Lake and Palmer! How ELSE do you listen to it?!?!?!” She rolled her eyes and we all laughed, even her.

Her name was Deb and she was Jasmine’s Aunt and we all loved her very, very much. She is someone Bosco would have loved to meet. She had sparkling eyes and blonde hair and was cool like Janice the guitarist of The Electric Mayhem. She loved all creatures great and small, but especially dogs and horses. She was the last all-american girl. We miss her and we will always remember her. Please take care of her, J.T.

NEIL YOUNG – “LONG MAY YOU RUN”
We’ve been through some things together
With trunks of memories still to come
We found things to do in stormy weather
Long may you run

Long may you run
Long may you run
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining in the sun
Long may you run

Well, it was back in Black River in 1962
When I last saw you alive
But we missed that shift on the long decline
Long may you run

Long may you run
Long may you run
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining in the sun
Long may you run

Maybe the Beach Boys have got you now
With those waves singing “Caroline”
Rollin’ down that empty ocean road
Gettin’ to the surf on time

Long may you run
Long may you run
Although these changes have come
With your chrome heart shining in the sun
Long may you run