Author’s Note – The Last Dog Standing

Creative writing has always been my friend, and I am thankful to return to it after so many years apart. It is like nothing has changed, and yet everything has changed. I still surprise myself with my writing because as I composed this reflection/author’s note, I realized something about my piece that I had not considered. As I have presented them in the story, Coco and my grandfather are one and the same. Old, ornery men who lost something integral to their lives sitting idly by now as the world moves past them in a blur. Yet, they both find a reason to get up, and they have both been doing better as of late. This is why I love creative writing: it morphs and shapeshifts and sends you on journeys you never thought to go on.

I wrote the piece as a tribute to the Min Pins because, as an only child, they were sometimes the only friends I had to play with in the summer or during winter break when all my friends were going on family vacations or seeing relatives. The dogs and I used to play live-action Clue, although they probably did not know it. Each dog had a colored collar that matched a character in Clue, and I loved that game. Tiny as Colonel Mustard, Mitzi as Mrs. Peacock, Fritz as Mr. Green, Coco as Professor Plum, Duke as Ms. Scarlet, and me as Mrs.White. So, we roamed and tromped through the yard looking for Mr. Body’s killer (it was always somehow Professor Plum). I miss those dogs and what my family used to be like when they were all alive. However, I am grateful for the gift of creative writing and the outlet the Norwich Global Humanities Department has given me to explore my thoughts, ideas, and feelings in the most human and imaginative ways. Thank you for bringing my old friend back to me; it helps me immortalize the things and people I love in the only way I know how.