Class Note 1982
Issue
May-June 2022
“Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative.” This quote by Mordecai Siegal is one of my favorites. Many of us regard our pets as family members. This column is dedicated to all classmates who expanded their families during these past two years with pandemic pets. I should disclose up front that I am a dog person.
Martha Solis-Turner writes, “We got a golden retriever in May 2020. We were supposed to travel a lot in 2020 since we were empty-nesters, but then Covid put a kibosh on our plans. And two of our kids had to come home from college. Since we were suddenly going to be home for a while, we decided to get a new puppy. Her name is Fika and she has won our hearts.”
Louis Grimmelbein reports, “Our dog is named Rider. He is a mixed breed with the highest percentage being a mountain cur. We adopted him from Louisiana about a year and a half into the lockdown. Rider loves to run with and chase other dogs and jump on people to say hello. He really is a big hound dog oaf.”
Marty Jacobs adopted two dogs during the pandemic. First, a black Lab mix puppy named Baloo. Marty writes “He’s an incredibly affectionate and laidback dog with all those endearing and annoying Lab traits.” Baloo needed a buddy so they then adopted Luna—a 12-week-old Australian cattle dog mix. “She is equally as mellow and affectionate as Baloo and they are having a lot of fun!”
John Faucher and his family have fostered cats and kittens for years from their local animal shelter. John notes, “Not every attorney is lucky enough to have a great paralegal who is both an excellent employee and a cat. Sebastian is a very photogenic and handsome cat with his own Instagram account.” He can be found most days sleeping on the office printer, while new feline addition Milo prefers to sit on the keyboard.
Wendy Richter adopted mixed breed dog Trooper in November 2021 from the Massachusetts Humane Society. He originally came from Georgia.
Walt Cressler reports, “Our chief pets during the pandemic have been rats. Rats make very good pets. When properly socialized, they are very sweet, friendly, and intelligent. We don’t take in stray rats, by the way.”
David Plekenpol got a wonderful birthday surprise—a Bernese mountain dog and poodle mix puppy named Aspen. Plek shares: “She arrived on December 24. Total surprise to me. As we are now relocated from China to the United States, we can fully embrace the ultimate Colorado life with our first family dog.”
Bob Lee asked, “Does feeding wild birds count?”
Jeff Newman wins the award for the most unusual pets. He writes, “When the lockdown started I went out and bought two female Siberian dwarf hamsters. They fought a lot. I had to study hamster anatomy to realize that one was male; bought a second habitat.”
—David Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net; Jenny Chandler Hauge, 3506 Idaho Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016; jchandlerhauge@gmail.com
Martha Solis-Turner writes, “We got a golden retriever in May 2020. We were supposed to travel a lot in 2020 since we were empty-nesters, but then Covid put a kibosh on our plans. And two of our kids had to come home from college. Since we were suddenly going to be home for a while, we decided to get a new puppy. Her name is Fika and she has won our hearts.”
Louis Grimmelbein reports, “Our dog is named Rider. He is a mixed breed with the highest percentage being a mountain cur. We adopted him from Louisiana about a year and a half into the lockdown. Rider loves to run with and chase other dogs and jump on people to say hello. He really is a big hound dog oaf.”
Marty Jacobs adopted two dogs during the pandemic. First, a black Lab mix puppy named Baloo. Marty writes “He’s an incredibly affectionate and laidback dog with all those endearing and annoying Lab traits.” Baloo needed a buddy so they then adopted Luna—a 12-week-old Australian cattle dog mix. “She is equally as mellow and affectionate as Baloo and they are having a lot of fun!”
John Faucher and his family have fostered cats and kittens for years from their local animal shelter. John notes, “Not every attorney is lucky enough to have a great paralegal who is both an excellent employee and a cat. Sebastian is a very photogenic and handsome cat with his own Instagram account.” He can be found most days sleeping on the office printer, while new feline addition Milo prefers to sit on the keyboard.
Wendy Richter adopted mixed breed dog Trooper in November 2021 from the Massachusetts Humane Society. He originally came from Georgia.
Walt Cressler reports, “Our chief pets during the pandemic have been rats. Rats make very good pets. When properly socialized, they are very sweet, friendly, and intelligent. We don’t take in stray rats, by the way.”
David Plekenpol got a wonderful birthday surprise—a Bernese mountain dog and poodle mix puppy named Aspen. Plek shares: “She arrived on December 24. Total surprise to me. As we are now relocated from China to the United States, we can fully embrace the ultimate Colorado life with our first family dog.”
Bob Lee asked, “Does feeding wild birds count?”
Jeff Newman wins the award for the most unusual pets. He writes, “When the lockdown started I went out and bought two female Siberian dwarf hamsters. They fought a lot. I had to study hamster anatomy to realize that one was male; bought a second habitat.”
—David Eichman, 9004 Wonderland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; dme4law@sbcglobal.net; Jenny Chandler Hauge, 3506 Idaho Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20016; jchandlerhauge@gmail.com