Everyone’s alumni newsletters came in the mail on one day. There was the newsletter from my high school, a newsletter from the college my husband and I attended, and my daughter’s first alumni newsletter from Penn State.
I grabbed my school newsletters from the pile, and sat down at the kitchen table to catch up. Usually, I check out the alumni news section first. I like to read if anyone I knew now has a cool job, got married, has kids, or if there are pictures of anyone who dumped me three days before the Christmas formal for another chick (who I heard now is 500 pounds and can squash him like a bug). No, you don’t sense any bitterness—just a bit of vengeful imagination.
Anyway, as I was searching through the stack of newsletters, I noticed there was a new one, and it was addressed to my dog, Frankie. Yes, apparently the rescue where we got her from is now sending out newsletters to their graduates. If you think I am kidding, think again. This newsletter said, “Hello Graduates” in its salutation.
I have to wonder what my dog had to do to in order to be considered a graduate. When we took her home from that rescue at the ripe old age of eight weeks, she was not house trained, she knew no commands, and she had contracted parvo. Three weeks in a veterinary hospital and $3000 later, I finally had my new healthy puppy, who still did not do tricks. For that cash, I could have bought a pedigree, who at least could have brought home some prize money from dog shows along the way.
As I looked at this newsletter more closely, I saw that it was addressed to Frankie Cavanagh, and I was a bit perplexed. How did they know her adopted name? I know that there are no sealed adoption records when it comes to dogs, but she wasn’t named Frankie when we took her home. Then, I realized that when she was hospitalized for the parvo, the vet told me to call the rescue, because all their puppies had to be tested. In that conversation, the woman who ran the rescue asked me what I named the dog.
I guess she wrote down my dog’s name and kept it for future correspondence. I have to give that rescue kudos for marketing prowess. How cute is it for your dog to get her own newsletter? I know Frankie appreciated it.
