Farewell sweet Bernie

This is Bernie, we had to throw him away today because he takes up too much room in Faith's bedroom closet. Why make a post on a blog about a stuffed dog you may ask? Well, there's a sweet story and a bit of history behind this big dog.

Back in 1996 ( I sounds like an old fogey saying that!) I crossed paths with an old acquaintance named Travis ( yes, THAT Travis), he caught my eye with his beautiful blue eyes, his smile, and his big red truck. He and I started talking on the phone...a lot....and after a few phone conversations and a couple of group dates, we decided to go on a real date alone. Our destination was a carnival that was across the street from my work. He picked me up from work and we went to the carnival. We walked around just looking at people ( carnivals have a way of employing some very interesting characters!) and watching all the families have fun. I think we may have even held hands!

Down the aisle of carnival games Travis spied the ring toss. Oh my goodness, the sea of empty Coke bottles gleamed under the florescent lights, and I think they may have been calling his name because he gravitated towards that ring toss game like a moth to light. I said to him, " There's no way you're going to get a ring on a bottle." and he says, " just watch me". I had to give him credit for the high self-esteem, but I knew the odds of winning a carnival game are not in the favor of the player. I stood there watching him toss the rings, time and time again he'd miss. I watched him fork over $5 bills like he was handing out crumbs to a flock of pigeons. One $5 bill after another, I kept thinking, " how can he afford this?" ( side note: I was a broker-than-a-joke single girl living alone...$5 bills didn't come easily to me). I said to him, " You're never going to win, let's go." and he refused. He kept saying, " I'm going to win, just have patience.". I eventually got a little tired of him losing, so I turned around to focus my attention on something else and I heard a "Cling!" I turned back around to see him standing there, proud as can be, with an I TOLD YOU SO look to his face. He got a chance to pick any stuffed animal he wanted, and he choose the humongous St. Bernard with the I LOVE YOU heart. Instantly my own heart melted, and that's when I knew Travis wasn't just any normal guy. And several times since then he has proven me wrong when I told him that we should give up on something. If anything, Travis has taught me that power of having patience.

So, as they say, the rest is history. And Bernie the St. Bernard has been taking up space in a bedroom closet for far too long now. I kept hanging on to him because of the sentimental value, but it became clear to me last night while clearing out the closet that it was time to send Bernie to the old trash dump. I decided to take a picture of him just to keep his memory alive. Bernie had a small part in getting Travis and I together.

Farewell sweet Bernie. Thanks for the memory.