Casey has one eye now.
He’s fourteen, he’s a dachshund, and earlier this year a hawk decided he looked like a good idea. He survived it; because of course he did. That’s who Casey is. He likes to keep tabs on everyone, stay in the mix, make sure the whole household is accounted for. He’s Mackenzie’s dog. She’ll tell you so herself.
So when Marie sent a surprise in the mail; a custom caricature, Casey immortalised as a pirate, patch and all, Casey the Brave written underneath him; I printed it out and set it on the table for her to find.
She walked over, looked at it, looked up at me with a huge grin. Hey. That looks like Casey.
She grabbed the drawing and ran straight to him. Held it right up next to his face, comparing. She was obsessed. I framed a nice print for her room, where it now lives permanently. It means everything to her.
A few days later I was working through elements from Marie’s Autumn collection; the little dog cutouts, the buntings, the placemats; and Mackenzie noticed.
She decided they needed a dog park.
She set everything up in the living room, using the buntings as beds and resting spots for each dog. She rearranged it every couple of minutes, very serious about the layout. Then she decided the dogs wanted to watch a movie.
She grabbed the Casey the Brave frame, set it up in front of them, and put on the show.
When it was time for us to leave for the day, she informed me that the dogs and their movie were coming with us. She found a Tupperware container, loaded everyone in carefully; each dog, the frame; and carried the whole bus to the car.
I don’t know what the movie was about. But I know every dog had a seat, and Casey was the star.
Note from Marie: As a dog-owner myself, seeing this joy around Casey and friends is so rewarding. I am so proud of Lindsay and Mackenzie! <3 Who let the dogs out!! Hee hee.
This blogpost has been contributed to by Lindsay of @littlesummitcreative