A Fudge Story!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

This is going to be a story about Fudge.  My hope is that I can keep it short, simple, and sweet.  Fudge is my most loyal dog.  I had it all worked out that I was going to say if you add e-s-t or i-e-s-t to any word, there can be no bigger word or higher praise, but the whole e-s-t thing doesn’t work for most words that mean loyal, and on the adjectives it does work for, I just don’t like or they aren’t the choic-e-s-t.  See for yourself.

 

Main Entry:	loyal  [loi-uhl] Show IPA
Part of Speech:	adjective
Definition:	faithful, dependable
Synonyms:	allegiant, ardent, attached, behind one, believing, coming through, constant, devoted, dutiful, dyed-in-the-wool, firm, on one's side, patriotic, resolute, staunch, steadfast, steady, tried-and-true, true, true-blue, trustworthy, trusty, unfailing, unswerving, unwavering

I want to use loyalest and spell it just this way, so I hope my Fifth Grade spelling teacher can forgive me for one of the on purpose stupid-e-s-t misspellings ever. 

 

When I was home in Indiana, my mom said again that if truth be told, Vern is my favorite.  I get so tired of her saying this and it irritates me beyond belief because it is not true.  Sure Vern is goofy, a little needy, slightly nutty, and a cute little impish boy all rolled up in a big, hairy Doodle package, but Fudge is MY dog.  MY dog, and she never lets me forget it for one minute.  She may prefer John’s belly rubbing to mine, but she always waits to make sure I am coming along, too, if she thinks he is trying to sneak her out of the house for a walk or something.  She will wait in the house with me and follow me around to make sure I know she wants to stay with me or I should come along for the ride.  Fudge is not a Velcro dog and only does this when she senses we are about to be parted. 

 

Even when John tries to help by taking the dogs for a walk to get them out from underfoot when I have something to do in the house, I always feel like I am being a traitor to Fudge.  I am not sure what magical powers John possesses to make the children and dogs prefer to ride with me, but whenever we had to take two cars anywhere, both kids would always pick to ride with me playing the “she just touched me,” game while John enjoyed a relaxing drive.  I think it has to do with the fact that he can drive for up to twelve hours without uttering one word and has the ability to elongate his arm to reach small children in the back seat who are ignoring all verbal warnings.  I would pick someone else to drive with, too, if I could, and I have actually answered myself just to hear a voice on a long drive.  Sometimes, I will even explain to him how a conversation works and I will say something and then turn to him and say, “and now it is your turn,” only to have him say back, “what do you want me to say?”  Really, other than hearing a voice, I could have as riveting a conversation with my shoe.

 

This morning started out like any Sunday morning.  Vern came in and woke us up or rather woke me up and oddly enough John was rubbing Vern’s head, but still seemed to be in a deep, deep sleep.  It was the kind of sleep so deep his mind was unable to comprehend that a dog needed to go outside and you must rise up from the bed to make that happen.  It seems to happen a lot on a Sunday morning. Luckily, I took Vern seriously and out we went.  Fudge had her nose turned on, which automatically turns her ears off, and both were outside doing their own thing.  I emptied the dishwasher and when I went back out and called them in, Vern made a beeline for the yard because in all that time outside, he had just realized he was out there to do his business and must have sensed a deadline was nearing.  Fudge realized since Vern was now busy going potty, she had a few more moments to hunt.  Same story, different day. 

 

Once in the house, Fudge always heads back to our bedroom in the hopes that I will go back to bed and John can rub her tummy.  This is her absolute favorit-e-s-t time in the whole day and I settled her up with John and went back out in the living room to cuddle with Vern.  Vern had a bad night last night because our town had a celebration with fireworks and I wanted to make sure he had recovered.  We spent a little time with his paw around me and me telling him I thought he was the bravest dog I had ever met and then I returned back to my bedroom to hop back into bed.  I came around the corner to see Fudge had jumped down from the bed and was just sitting beside the bed (borrowing from the Walgreen’s commercial) at the corner of Do I Want A Belly Rub Street and I Should Probably Check on my Mom Avenue. Luckily for Fudge, I was coming back to bed and she didn’t have to put her loyalty to the test, but I appreciated the indecisiveness I could see on her beautiful face.  It is nice to know you might rate higher than a belly rub to your dog.  So, anyways, that’s my sweet, simple, but not so short story about my loyal-e-s-t dog.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Fudge wanted to be an ONLY but loves that she is not. I can see why she is your dog, just look at her. Not to say Vern is less of a beast he is SPECIAL and we all know that as well.

Needless to say Laurie, we have enough love to pass around, kids, doodles, and yes even husbands and you are the Queen of it all.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Jay, Wow....I love this comment! I love a good rant and especially a great compliment :) Thank you so much!

[Jay, Lola and Colonel Esau]

I wholeheartedly agree about "-est".  It drives me crazy when people pretend like there are grammar rules in English.  In languages like French or Spanish, an expression can be grammatically correct or incorrect, because there are royal societies that make the rules under the authority of the crown.  There is no such thing for English, plain and simple.  What people sometimes wrongly call "rules" of English grammar are not rules and all, but conventions that change over time - automatically, organically and regardless of what any individual says about it.  The only possible exception might be those rare instances when someone like Snoop Dogg changes the language more or less singlehandedly - but even then, no individual is required to follow that person's example (at least until time passes, the change becomes canonized and some high school teacher penalizes their student for using the antiquated spelling of "dog" with only one "g" or whatever).  At the risk of generalizing, it seems like school teachers often have a particularly difficult time grasping this concept.

Sorry for the rant.  My point is that you are a terrific writer with a unique and wonderful storytelling voice.  "LoyalEST" has an endearing, childlike connotation that is much different from "most loyal".  Your decision to use hyphens between the letters shows a keen, creative appreciation for the written word and that your departure from convention was deliberate.  At least in my opinion, you expressed yourself in the BEST-EST, even the CORRECT-EST manner possible.  And that's all I have to say about that.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks, Lonnie!!

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Awwww, very sweet blog Laurie and Fudge is the "bestest" in my book:)

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Deanna, That is so true. Tim made our cruise so much fun!

Christine, Thank you!

Jarka, Thank you! Today, Fudge went to the groomer's and Vern was so out of sorts. He looks for her and when we left to go get her, he was looking down our yard waiting for her to jump in the car. I kept telling him we were going to go get her, but I guess he thought she was hunting in the yard. He is really not himself when she is gone. I call them Ying and Yang. I am sure Monty and Auggie are like that, too.

Cheryl, Thank you! I tell her all the time she is my best friend. My kids and son-in-law are always mimicking me. LOL

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

@ Laurie - I'll bet if Doug cruised with Tim, Tim would have him dancing away!!  Tim is better than any old cruise director in bringing out the fun side of people!!  :)

[Christine & Shelby]

Love that girl Fudge.... Love her! Great blog... Thanks for sharing!!!

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Aww, Fudge sounds so sweet. What a cute blog, Laurie. Fudge sounds like Monty in some ways. He's the one that looks back at me to see if I'm coming when my DH takes him for a walk of when we are hiking. But he's also a velcro dog for most times.

Linda, I'm with you. It's hard not to have favorites when you add a second dog. I was fighting (and still am) even if I love both boys.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

This is a beautiful tribute to a very special girl, Lady Fudge. Beautiful Fudge sounds like she watches over you and knows its her job to keep the household on track.  Like mother, like (furry) daughter :)  A bestest friend I'd say.