Monday, October 08, 2007
From Our Files...
Last February my family said goodbye to our oldest pet, Watson. It was sad and I still miss him. That week was a hard one at Marquette for me so one night when I got off of shift at SSP, I came back to the Men's Catholic House and wrote what you are about to read until 5a.m. The spelling and grammar reflects this late hour. The reason I post this now is that I have been given many compliments from those who have read teh following story. I thought some of you might appriciate something that doesn't just mention Aaron Morey. Oops I did it again. This is intended to be read as an extended obituary of sorts.
Ladies and gentlemen take my advice, read this story and enjoy.
On Saturday February 3, 2007 Watson Clyde Nelson passes from this world. He was a month shy of what was assumed to be his 18th Birthday on Easter Sunday. Watson was a faithful friend, a trusted listener, and a not always welcomed dinner guest.
Watson came to the Nelsons around December 1990. Tommy was in Kindergarten and Christina was in baby pants. Watson was in fact the only pet the Nelsons actively chose to seek out. The others (and boy would there be others) would just sort of come to them. Watson’s new home was made possible by a gift from Helen who lived in “the big house.” No more than 6 months old when joining the family, Watson was already a big dog in the eyes of the kids.
We always used to assume Watson was mistreated as a puppy. They way he feared men and Dad in a hat was evidence for this hypothesis. He was never very fond of UPS either. Any tragedy the young pup endured would be quickly forgotten by this beagle/basset living in the life of luxury with the Nelsons.
The name Watson came almost immediately. Clyde was Dad’s first choice but proved to be impossible for Tommy who was working on the proper pronunciation of “c,” “K” and “Q” etc.. Watson was the dog of the Sherlock Holmes Muppet on Sesame Street, a favorite of Tommy’s. So a compromise was struck and the name Watson Clyde Nelson was agreed upon by all 4 members of the now larger family.
Watson and Christina both fell asleep on the car ride home from Noah's Ark. It was in the back seat of the old Blue car that Papa had given us. The author recalls McDonalds being consumed at home soon after this so a trip to the fast food chain must have been made. At home the children ate their lunch at their favorite blue and white table and chairs in the basement, as that was the location of the only television in the Nelson household at the time. Watson was pretty scared of the stairs that day and Dad had to carry him down to be with the new family. The author recalls Tommy having trouble remembering the new dogs name that first day. “Whats the dogs name?” he recalls asking. A bath in the laundry room was next up on the schedule for Watson. He didn't like it too much. It was the first of the 5 baths he would take in the next 18 years. Watson came to the Nelson's at a time when they had only known Leroy. Leroy was never too crazy about Watson who was only interested in sniffing the black cat. They never fought, and seemed to have come to a mutual understanding pretty quickly in their lifetime. The author can recall on more than one occasion, Leroy accidentally falling asleep on top of Watson, who preferred to sleep under covers. Watson could often be found sleeping at the foot of one of the kids beds, but more often than not he was in the master bedroom, taking up more space than he was allotted on the queen size bed. A king size was purchased to allow for more comfort for all 3 of the beds occupants. Most of the time, Watson was snuggled right up against the legs of his new mommy. Other times he could be found under the bed usually with some bone or a wrapper he had illicitly acquired from some place or another. The bedroom was the most frequent location for Watson to have a conversation with people. All you had to do was rub his ears and Watson would start talking up a storm. He had a pretty rough life, especially after a new television was purchased and placed in his new bedroom. Watson was often referred to as being a “cow” by his daddy who enjoyed his conversations and naps with Watson during odd hours of the day. Watson began the terrible twos soon after this period. He was quite interested in chewing up most of the plastic toys the kids would frequently leave around the house. One of the more devastating losses was of a red trolley from Uncle Dave that looked exactly like the one from Mister Rodgers. The chewed up trolley still rests on the author’s shelf with his other non-chewed Trolleys. It was soon discovered that Watson could not be trusted roaming the house alone. So it was decided he would take German lessons. Becoming fluent very quickly, Raush Shanoush became the command to signify that it was time for Watson to return to HIS bed. The door was closed and he was usually well behaved until he heard the garage open on the Nelson's return home, at which point the door would be attacked with nails. The door still bears the scars of those days. Watson was too humble of a dog to show off tricks to people. The author does recall teaching him to jump up and give him a kiss when he returned home from school. The author was continually told not to teach him that, but Watson learned it anyways. Watson liked to eat. Watson didn't always like to eat dog food. Watson became a consumer of fine gourmet foods. To name a few: pizza crust, sandwich crust, BBQ leftovers, French fries, cheerios, and most notably a freshly cooked steak all for himself. Always conscious of time, Watson consumed the steak he had acquired from the grill in less than 1.8 seconds. A remarkable record that still stands in the Nelson family despite attempts by recent additions to the family to break it. In the early 90s, Watson stared in his own series of children books. This of course following the precedent set by Leroy the Cat when the circus came to town, but that is a different story. In the mid 1990s, Mom became a baby-sitter for a number of children. Watson became her trusted assistant. He was always right there watching closely as the children ate. On more than one occasion, he would balance himself against the high chair and get right in on the action of the food that was being served. Often times consuming it himself, just to make sure it was safe for the children. Watson became the favorite of such celebrities as Katie Campbell and her notorious sister Maggie. Watson didn't seem to mind additions to the family like Ursula the cat who showed up one “snowy” night. He also seemed fine with the new kitten Lydia, who actually turned out to be Pippin. As long he was allowed to sniff them, Watson was happy. This was probably Watson's favorite past time. So much so that in one of the many adventure dramas the neighborhood kids would act out in the backyard, Watson took on the part of Sniffer. Watson was very protective of his backyard. Pooping in it almost constantly. He was also very active in conservation, as he would quite often fight you for a stick. He could be calmed rather easily with the right amount of rubbing behind the ears. It is a common fact that Watson was a devout Packer fan. He had always wanted to be the Running Back for Green Bay. So much so that every time one of the kids would leave the door open just a crack, Watson would take off running as if for a touch down. On numerous occasions massive “manhunts” were put into effect in order to locate the pup. On one occasion Watson got very close to being shall we say, “tackled” by a defensive linemen in the form of a steamroller on East State Street. Watson was also a well-practiced comedian. Almost daily he would do his best impression of the mailman who for some strange reason would bark back at Watson. Watson's favorite holiday was by far Christmas. Not only did he get to sniff out that new bone under the Christmas tree, but also it was a chance to see Uncle Bill. Watson was always very affectionate with Uncle Bill after barking at him for a time. In 1996 Watson experienced probably one of what he would describe as the most traumatic of his life. He would be over exaggerating as he usually did of course. While camping at Rock Cut (Watson's favorite get away spot, the big city exhausted him) Watson became the proud new brother to Camper Coleman Max Nelson. Camper's story is one of its own, but it is closely united with Watson's. Watson was now the leader of a pack in the Nelson house. The two would often argue about who got the table scraps but in the long run there was no argument these two rascals couldn't settle over a friendly tug of war game with Camper's knot. Watson was well practiced after playing this game with the Nelson children's socks. Watson retired from tug of war in 1999. Together Watson and Camper became an inseparable team. Camper learned a lot from Watson about obedience, walking, barking at the mailman, the doorbell, cars. Watson was a good teacher. As Watson grew older, he became more health conscious. He limited himself to only 7 feedings a day. He also became more environmentally conscious. He was the founder of a recycling program in the Nelson's backyard that continues today. Camper quickly followed suit in cleaning up the crap in the world. 1996 also saw the passing of Watson's longtime friend Leroy. Watson was grateful for the friendship he had with the old cat and mourned privately on Christmas Eve. As the teenage years dragged on in the Nelson house, Watson was sad to see less and less of his boy and girl. But he was always there to listen to girl troubles for Tommy. The author assumes he was equally understanding if not more protective of Christina when she found boys. Watson also became a frequent means to woo women for the author. Who could ever resist that beagle's charm? The author recalls Watson being most happy when walking around the block with one of his owners. He would hold his head up high as if to say, “These are my owners and I am proud to call them my own.” Watson had good days and bad days. But there was hardly ever the day that a good ear and belly rub couldn't erase. Watson was very grateful when Animal Planet became a regular channel in Rockford. Watson is also known to have been one of the most well versed dogs in Civil War and World War II history in part to his daddy's frequent watching of the History Channel. In 2003 Watson, like everyone else was sad to see Tommy go off to Marquette University. But that freshen year Tommy was home frequently and summer vacation was always great for catching up. The winter of 2004-2005 saw the greatest change in Watson's life. He retired from the active lifestyle that was offered on Vale Ave South and moved out to a retirement community on Fenceline Drive. Watson didn't seem to mind the move too much. His bed and TV were there so he was happy. He was very excited about a new yard to “poopulate” and a whole bunch of new trees to sniff. Over 60 on the author's last count. Fenceline began to offer new challenges to the aging beagle. Gone was his big picture window from which to observe the passing cars. He made up for this every chance he got at the front door and on Tommy's bed. One big challenge was knowing exactly where people were going to come in. At Vale, when the garage door opened, everyone knew it. Watson had taught Camper to follow his lead and bark anytime that door opened. The new garage was very quiet, which probably made for a few more restful nights for mom and dad as the kids began to come home later and later. The first time the doorbell rang was very confusing for Watson and Camper. The bell was familiar enough from Vale for them to know what it was, but what they didn't know where to go! The front door on Fenceline was used so rarely that they ran to the garage door, as that was the main egress and ingress point for the family. Arthritis began to take its toll on Watson who began having trouble making it up on to HIS bed. Removing the bed frame and making the bed more user friendly to “Watty” solved this problem. Losing his picture window was hard for Watson. But he did take great comfort in his new sectional sofa in the living room, with a television. The couch proved to be very comfortable for taking naps during the day. And once he could no longer make the jump, the connecting point of the two sections proved to be a comfortable place to rest. Especially after Camper knocked down some pillows and blankets. 2005-2006 saw Watson beginning to suffer from a bladder problem. He could no longer always control when or where he was going to go. This made him angry and frustrated at times. One of the new joys in Watson's life was becoming the adopted-grandfather of a new puppy. Sparticus J. or Sparky came to the Nelson's in early 2006. Watson took it as his duty to become the young pups mentor. No one made sure that dog knew his place better than Watson did. Sparky learned a lot from Watson in the all too short time the two lived together. Watson was now the patriarch of the Nelson family pets. He was proud and happy of all he had accomplished. Watson led a full life filled with adventure, barking, sniffing, sleeping, eating, cuddling, barking, napping, pooping, eating, barking, and sleeping. He was at peace with himself and with his family when he passed on. He was a great friend and full member of the family for almost as long as Christina had been. His legacy will live on with Camper and Sparky. Ursula will now be the Matriarch of the pet clans, but it is rumored she will surrender her authority to Camper, who learned first hand from the master exactly what it means to be a pet in the Nelson household. That is not to say that the Cats didn't learn a thing or two from Watson about getting what they wanted. Some would say Watson was spoiled. Others might think he was treated too much like a person. All I can say is that Watson was loved. We all loved him and he loved us more than anyone could imagine. We thank God for the gift of him in our lives for as long as he was. We ask the Lord to keep watch over him now and pray for our brother Timmy to take good care of him. Rest in peace Watson. We love you. We miss you, and we thank you.
The End
Ladies and gentlemen take my advice, read this story and enjoy.
On Saturday February 3, 2007 Watson Clyde Nelson passes from this world. He was a month shy of what was assumed to be his 18th Birthday on Easter Sunday. Watson was a faithful friend, a trusted listener, and a not always welcomed dinner guest.
Watson came to the Nelsons around December 1990. Tommy was in Kindergarten and Christina was in baby pants. Watson was in fact the only pet the Nelsons actively chose to seek out. The others (and boy would there be others) would just sort of come to them. Watson’s new home was made possible by a gift from Helen who lived in “the big house.” No more than 6 months old when joining the family, Watson was already a big dog in the eyes of the kids.
We always used to assume Watson was mistreated as a puppy. They way he feared men and Dad in a hat was evidence for this hypothesis. He was never very fond of UPS either. Any tragedy the young pup endured would be quickly forgotten by this beagle/basset living in the life of luxury with the Nelsons.
The name Watson came almost immediately. Clyde was Dad’s first choice but proved to be impossible for Tommy who was working on the proper pronunciation of “c,” “K” and “Q” etc.. Watson was the dog of the Sherlock Holmes Muppet on Sesame Street, a favorite of Tommy’s. So a compromise was struck and the name Watson Clyde Nelson was agreed upon by all 4 members of the now larger family.
Watson and Christina both fell asleep on the car ride home from Noah's Ark. It was in the back seat of the old Blue car that Papa had given us. The author recalls McDonalds being consumed at home soon after this so a trip to the fast food chain must have been made. At home the children ate their lunch at their favorite blue and white table and chairs in the basement, as that was the location of the only television in the Nelson household at the time. Watson was pretty scared of the stairs that day and Dad had to carry him down to be with the new family. The author recalls Tommy having trouble remembering the new dogs name that first day. “Whats the dogs name?” he recalls asking. A bath in the laundry room was next up on the schedule for Watson. He didn't like it too much. It was the first of the 5 baths he would take in the next 18 years. Watson came to the Nelson's at a time when they had only known Leroy. Leroy was never too crazy about Watson who was only interested in sniffing the black cat. They never fought, and seemed to have come to a mutual understanding pretty quickly in their lifetime. The author can recall on more than one occasion, Leroy accidentally falling asleep on top of Watson, who preferred to sleep under covers. Watson could often be found sleeping at the foot of one of the kids beds, but more often than not he was in the master bedroom, taking up more space than he was allotted on the queen size bed. A king size was purchased to allow for more comfort for all 3 of the beds occupants. Most of the time, Watson was snuggled right up against the legs of his new mommy. Other times he could be found under the bed usually with some bone or a wrapper he had illicitly acquired from some place or another. The bedroom was the most frequent location for Watson to have a conversation with people. All you had to do was rub his ears and Watson would start talking up a storm. He had a pretty rough life, especially after a new television was purchased and placed in his new bedroom. Watson was often referred to as being a “cow” by his daddy who enjoyed his conversations and naps with Watson during odd hours of the day. Watson began the terrible twos soon after this period. He was quite interested in chewing up most of the plastic toys the kids would frequently leave around the house. One of the more devastating losses was of a red trolley from Uncle Dave that looked exactly like the one from Mister Rodgers. The chewed up trolley still rests on the author’s shelf with his other non-chewed Trolleys. It was soon discovered that Watson could not be trusted roaming the house alone. So it was decided he would take German lessons. Becoming fluent very quickly, Raush Shanoush became the command to signify that it was time for Watson to return to HIS bed. The door was closed and he was usually well behaved until he heard the garage open on the Nelson's return home, at which point the door would be attacked with nails. The door still bears the scars of those days. Watson was too humble of a dog to show off tricks to people. The author does recall teaching him to jump up and give him a kiss when he returned home from school. The author was continually told not to teach him that, but Watson learned it anyways. Watson liked to eat. Watson didn't always like to eat dog food. Watson became a consumer of fine gourmet foods. To name a few: pizza crust, sandwich crust, BBQ leftovers, French fries, cheerios, and most notably a freshly cooked steak all for himself. Always conscious of time, Watson consumed the steak he had acquired from the grill in less than 1.8 seconds. A remarkable record that still stands in the Nelson family despite attempts by recent additions to the family to break it. In the early 90s, Watson stared in his own series of children books. This of course following the precedent set by Leroy the Cat when the circus came to town, but that is a different story. In the mid 1990s, Mom became a baby-sitter for a number of children. Watson became her trusted assistant. He was always right there watching closely as the children ate. On more than one occasion, he would balance himself against the high chair and get right in on the action of the food that was being served. Often times consuming it himself, just to make sure it was safe for the children. Watson became the favorite of such celebrities as Katie Campbell and her notorious sister Maggie. Watson didn't seem to mind additions to the family like Ursula the cat who showed up one “snowy” night. He also seemed fine with the new kitten Lydia, who actually turned out to be Pippin. As long he was allowed to sniff them, Watson was happy. This was probably Watson's favorite past time. So much so that in one of the many adventure dramas the neighborhood kids would act out in the backyard, Watson took on the part of Sniffer. Watson was very protective of his backyard. Pooping in it almost constantly. He was also very active in conservation, as he would quite often fight you for a stick. He could be calmed rather easily with the right amount of rubbing behind the ears. It is a common fact that Watson was a devout Packer fan. He had always wanted to be the Running Back for Green Bay. So much so that every time one of the kids would leave the door open just a crack, Watson would take off running as if for a touch down. On numerous occasions massive “manhunts” were put into effect in order to locate the pup. On one occasion Watson got very close to being shall we say, “tackled” by a defensive linemen in the form of a steamroller on East State Street. Watson was also a well-practiced comedian. Almost daily he would do his best impression of the mailman who for some strange reason would bark back at Watson. Watson's favorite holiday was by far Christmas. Not only did he get to sniff out that new bone under the Christmas tree, but also it was a chance to see Uncle Bill. Watson was always very affectionate with Uncle Bill after barking at him for a time. In 1996 Watson experienced probably one of what he would describe as the most traumatic of his life. He would be over exaggerating as he usually did of course. While camping at Rock Cut (Watson's favorite get away spot, the big city exhausted him) Watson became the proud new brother to Camper Coleman Max Nelson. Camper's story is one of its own, but it is closely united with Watson's. Watson was now the leader of a pack in the Nelson house. The two would often argue about who got the table scraps but in the long run there was no argument these two rascals couldn't settle over a friendly tug of war game with Camper's knot. Watson was well practiced after playing this game with the Nelson children's socks. Watson retired from tug of war in 1999. Together Watson and Camper became an inseparable team. Camper learned a lot from Watson about obedience, walking, barking at the mailman, the doorbell, cars. Watson was a good teacher. As Watson grew older, he became more health conscious. He limited himself to only 7 feedings a day. He also became more environmentally conscious. He was the founder of a recycling program in the Nelson's backyard that continues today. Camper quickly followed suit in cleaning up the crap in the world. 1996 also saw the passing of Watson's longtime friend Leroy. Watson was grateful for the friendship he had with the old cat and mourned privately on Christmas Eve. As the teenage years dragged on in the Nelson house, Watson was sad to see less and less of his boy and girl. But he was always there to listen to girl troubles for Tommy. The author assumes he was equally understanding if not more protective of Christina when she found boys. Watson also became a frequent means to woo women for the author. Who could ever resist that beagle's charm? The author recalls Watson being most happy when walking around the block with one of his owners. He would hold his head up high as if to say, “These are my owners and I am proud to call them my own.” Watson had good days and bad days. But there was hardly ever the day that a good ear and belly rub couldn't erase. Watson was very grateful when Animal Planet became a regular channel in Rockford. Watson is also known to have been one of the most well versed dogs in Civil War and World War II history in part to his daddy's frequent watching of the History Channel. In 2003 Watson, like everyone else was sad to see Tommy go off to Marquette University. But that freshen year Tommy was home frequently and summer vacation was always great for catching up. The winter of 2004-2005 saw the greatest change in Watson's life. He retired from the active lifestyle that was offered on Vale Ave South and moved out to a retirement community on Fenceline Drive. Watson didn't seem to mind the move too much. His bed and TV were there so he was happy. He was very excited about a new yard to “poopulate” and a whole bunch of new trees to sniff. Over 60 on the author's last count. Fenceline began to offer new challenges to the aging beagle. Gone was his big picture window from which to observe the passing cars. He made up for this every chance he got at the front door and on Tommy's bed. One big challenge was knowing exactly where people were going to come in. At Vale, when the garage door opened, everyone knew it. Watson had taught Camper to follow his lead and bark anytime that door opened. The new garage was very quiet, which probably made for a few more restful nights for mom and dad as the kids began to come home later and later. The first time the doorbell rang was very confusing for Watson and Camper. The bell was familiar enough from Vale for them to know what it was, but what they didn't know where to go! The front door on Fenceline was used so rarely that they ran to the garage door, as that was the main egress and ingress point for the family. Arthritis began to take its toll on Watson who began having trouble making it up on to HIS bed. Removing the bed frame and making the bed more user friendly to “Watty” solved this problem. Losing his picture window was hard for Watson. But he did take great comfort in his new sectional sofa in the living room, with a television. The couch proved to be very comfortable for taking naps during the day. And once he could no longer make the jump, the connecting point of the two sections proved to be a comfortable place to rest. Especially after Camper knocked down some pillows and blankets. 2005-2006 saw Watson beginning to suffer from a bladder problem. He could no longer always control when or where he was going to go. This made him angry and frustrated at times. One of the new joys in Watson's life was becoming the adopted-grandfather of a new puppy. Sparticus J. or Sparky came to the Nelson's in early 2006. Watson took it as his duty to become the young pups mentor. No one made sure that dog knew his place better than Watson did. Sparky learned a lot from Watson in the all too short time the two lived together. Watson was now the patriarch of the Nelson family pets. He was proud and happy of all he had accomplished. Watson led a full life filled with adventure, barking, sniffing, sleeping, eating, cuddling, barking, napping, pooping, eating, barking, and sleeping. He was at peace with himself and with his family when he passed on. He was a great friend and full member of the family for almost as long as Christina had been. His legacy will live on with Camper and Sparky. Ursula will now be the Matriarch of the pet clans, but it is rumored she will surrender her authority to Camper, who learned first hand from the master exactly what it means to be a pet in the Nelson household. That is not to say that the Cats didn't learn a thing or two from Watson about getting what they wanted. Some would say Watson was spoiled. Others might think he was treated too much like a person. All I can say is that Watson was loved. We all loved him and he loved us more than anyone could imagine. We thank God for the gift of him in our lives for as long as he was. We ask the Lord to keep watch over him now and pray for our brother Timmy to take good care of him. Rest in peace Watson. We love you. We miss you, and we thank you.
The End
# posted by The REAL Tommy @ 2:52 PM 
