Ten Years Ago...

Ten years ago I was living in a very nice apartment on 15th Ave, I was 22 years old, and it was my first year teaching.
 
Ten years ago Tom was a senior at Santa Clara.

Ten years ago, Tim and Sara had a nearly 1 year old puppy Davis and signed on to serve as foster parents for Tony LaRussa's Animal Rescue Foundation.  Concerned about Davis adjusting to a new dog, Tim and Sara had made some requests as foster parents that they get some notice ahead of time before a dog was placed with them and that they get dogs placed on a weekend, so they'd have some time to make sure everyone adjusted smoothly.

I think it was a Tuesday or something in late February when Tim got a call from ARF that they had a dog that needed placement immediately.  Her time was up at a shelter in the East Bay and if ARF didn't pick her up today, she was going to be euthanized.  ARF was moving to a new facility and did not have room for the dog.  So they called Tim.  Even though they got no notice and it was the middle of the week, Tim and Sara hopped in the car and headed over to pick up the dog.  On the way home, they named her Cali.  When they got home, Tim called me and said I needed to come over and meet her.

I wanted her the moment I met her.  I think she loved me too.  She came at a good time and we needed each other.  I think I asked my landlady that night, if I could adopt Cali.  A few days later, she told me no.

I went over to Tim and Sara's house during the day to visit Cali and Davis and I told Cali that I couldn't adopt her.  I started crying.  Cali climbed into my lap and licked the tears off my face.  I got onto Craigslist and looked for a new apartment.

It was a crummy little basement apartment in the foggiest part of Pacifica.  But, I could have a dog there.  So I moved in on March 30, 2002 and officially took ownership of Cali the same day.

I used to take her to run around at this school yard across the street.  She also liked to play on the playground!

Cali and I lived alone together for a couple of years and she helped trash a couple of different apartments along the way.  It was in the first apartment where we discovered Cali did not like thunder.  I came home one stormy evening and she'd torn up the carpet trying to claw her way out.  We did not get our security deposit back.  At our second apartment on Warren Dr, she left serious claw marks in the door during Fleet Week - after Tim took her on a field trip to Crissy Field to watch the Blue Angels.  We did not get our security deposit back.

I didn't want to leave her alone in the apartment while I was at work, so each day I dropped her off at Tim and Sara's house so she and Davis could have daily playdates.  For a long time, they were BFFs.

Eventually, Tom moved in.  Then we added Finn shortly before moving yet again.  Then of course, came the kids and two other moves.  Cali has lived in 4 different places since coming to me (and who knows what her life was like the year or so before Tim picked her up).

She's a high anxiety gal who keeps her feelings bottled up until it makes her tremble.  All her friends are dorky boys, she's the smartest of the bunch and the bossiest.  The one time a cuter, younger girl (Brady) entered the group, Cali continuously tried to destroy her.  She and I were clearly meant for each other.

She's given us a couple of scares over the years.  Once she went over a cliff while out walking with mom and Mike.  Apparently Mike stood there looking at her at the bottom of the cliff, wondering if he was going to have to climb down or call the fire department.  Cali wasn't going to have any of that drama.  She just climbed back up the cliff.   Another time I tied her leash to a table outside a hamburger place on 9th Ave while I went in to grab some food.  A motorcycle going by spooked her and she took off running full speed down 9th Avenue toward Lincoln dragging a metal cafe table behind her.  I was chasing her and screaming for help as the table nearly crashed into a car and a glass window.  Thankfully, Cali tripped shortly before reaching Lincoln and I was able to grab her.  While the restaurant was concerned with me paying for the burger I'd ordered and replacing their table, the vet's office she tripped in front of brought Cali in to bandage her feet.  She'd run so hard, she literally ran the soles of her feet off.  I just thank God she tripped.

On a lighter note, once I'd borrowed Tom's car and wanted to take it through the car wash in return.  I decided Cali would like this trip.  I was wrong.  Halfway through the carwash, Cali starts freaking out and jumping all over the car in a panic.  During the panic she stepped on the automatic window button, causing the rear window to roll down.  The inside of the car got soaked and I learned to never take Cali through the carwash.

She's dug holes in every yard she's ever visited and has been working on a tunneling project in our current yard for a while.  She's a hunter and we believe is responsible for the maiming of a possum and the murder of a couple of gophers (good girl!).  She has been sprayed in the face by a skunk.  She's seemingly allergic to the world and has spent much of her time on Earth itching or breaking out in hives.

She really likes to snuggle and preheats the bed on cold nights.  She used to bark at every sound that walked by our apartment door.  Living alone, I never told her to stop.  Now she barks when Finn barks and I'm constantly telling her to stop!

As this 10 year anniversary comes, I've just been thinking a lot about Cali and how much she has brought to my life.  As she gets older, she's in relatively good health.  She has arthritis in her hips so she can't run much anymore.  Cataracts is starting to take over her eyes; the doctor suspects she can still see during the day but that her night vision is probably very cloudy.  And she is either actually going deaf or practicing selective hearing... At least she can't hear the thunder and fireworks anymore.

I think Cali probably feels everything went downhill the day Finn showed up.  And the kids and all that moving only made it worse.  But if that is how she feels, she's been largely very tolerant of everything.  Periodically she will give me this look with eyes that speak volumes and I wonder if she reminisces about the good old days of 10 years ago.  Just two gals on their own in a crummy basement apartment.

And special thanks to Tim and Sara.  I used to tell Tommy that Uncle Tim was an animal rescuer just like Diego!