[Dailydrool] Craig Wittenberg of Red Bay Bassets - ATB

Tue Nov 22 16:27:17 PST 2016

I have been on the Daily Drool since its inception many, many years ago and
the old timers have heard many stories of my husband, Craig, and his beloved
hounds.  Some may know from Facebook about the passing of my husband, Craig
on November 1st. Craig loved his own hounds and the hounds of Daphneyland.
In fact, just 2 years ago, as his condition deteriorated, the one place he
wanted to go to "one last time" was Daphneyland. So we went to Daphneyland
for him. He spent most of the week there loving on Tucker ... his personal
favorite and napping with him on the couch. I thought I would share the
tribute I wrote about Craig that was read at his Memorial Service.  Please
consider making a donation to Daphneyland in memory of Craig and his love
for the bassets at www.daphneyland.com or
https://www.youcaring.com/bassetrescuenetworkincatdaphneyland-690337.  

TRIBUTE TO CRAIG

My first memories of Craig are from the spring of my 4th grade year.  I was
walking home from school and some boys were harassing me as I carried my
violin and was walking to my piano teacher's house for my lesson.  Craig's
brother was one of those boys and Craig "cleaned his clock".  Craig was in
6th grade and I didn't know him but I sure was happy to have him keep his
punky little brother and his punky friends away from me for the rest of that
school year.  I didn't meet back up with Craig until September of my 7th
grade year when he asked me to dance at a neighborhood church that had a
monthly social for neighborhood kids.  Within a month or two, Craig was my
boyfriend and was meeting me at Whittier school to walk the 1.5 miles home
every day.  We fell madly in love, as only 13 & 15 year olds can.  I am sure
my parents were having apoplexy.  At one point, my Dad said something to the
effect that Craig was at our house so much, he might as well have slippers
sitting on the steps by the back door.  Craig brought his slippers over . my
dad had a fit.   Craig and I were inseparable and he defied his parents by
coming to church with me and was baptized at West Toledo Church of Christ at
the age of 16.  Craig and I remained high school sweethearts until I turned
sixteen and I told him I wanted to date other guys.  He told me "it's all or
nothing" and we parted ways.  

Then, shortly after my 19th birthday in January 1967, he showed up at my
house one afternoon.  He had enlisted in the Army and was home on leave.  I
came home from my cousin's house and found him eating chocolate cake with my
mom at our kitchen table.  We went to Rudy's and had a hotdog and then he
left because I had a date that night.  About two weeks later, I got a letter
from him saying that he wanted to "pick up where we left off" (ever the
smooth talker).  I wrote back and said that if we did, we would be married
in six months.  I told him to think about it and write back.  Six weeks
later, after he graduated from Quartermaster school in Ft. Lee Virginia, he
came home on leave.   And as they say, the rest is history . we were married
on August 28, 1967 at Fort Sill, OK in the Lawton OK Church of Christ .  I
dropped out of college and became an Army wife and by December 1967 we were
living in Germany.  Then the reality of being an Army wife hit hard when
Craig was sent to Viet Nam on June 3, 1968.  We spent our first anniversary
8053 miles apart.   Craig returned on June 2, 1969 and our life resumed at
Ft. Lee Virginia, where our daughter was born.  It was there that Craig fell
in love with another woman . a 6 pound basset hound named Goldie. We
returned to Toledo in September 1970 as a family of four (3 humans and a
dog) and began civilian life. 

Like most marriages, we had good times and bad.  The good times were very
good and the bad times were very bad.  But when we said, for better or
worse, til death do us part, I really meant it.   During one very rough
patch, I told Craig that " 'til death do us part' " meant that he could die
of natural causes or I could kill him.  He looked me in the eye and asked me
if I was serious . my response was "yes . deadly serious".  I think he
revisited that thought on numerous occasions . I know that I did.  Someone
asked me one time if I had ever considered divorce . my reply was "no . but
I have considered murder".

Craig was a good husband and a good dad.  He built couch cushion forts, ice
skating rinks in the back yard, tree houses, Pinewood derby cars, had tea
parties, had his nails painted on multiple occasions, dressed for Halloween,
gave horsey back rides, played hide & seek in the house, played tag running
in and out of the eight doors in our house, went to camp for a week with a
bunch of 4th & 5th graders, was a Cub Scout den leader and pack leader,
camped out with 8 scared little boys one snowy weekend, hung with the kids
for cartoon marathons on Saturday mornings, hauled band kids all over the
state of Michigan, never got tired of watching Star Wars movies for the
100th time, and drove us all crazy with unending monitoring of the Weather
Channel.  He loved his bassets and was an uncomplaining chief pooper-scooper
at home and unpaid kennel help on the road at dog shows.  He was the one,
not me, that moved us from a one dog family to a multiple dog family .
always feeling there was room for one more.

Craig never met a stranger.  His favorite thing to make me crazy was to
wander off in a store and "make new friends".  He could talk to someone for
5 minutes and know more about them than I would learn in 5 years.  At dog
shows, he would take off on his bike and be gone for hours . visiting with
friends, making new friends and checking out all of the different rigs.  

Craig loved to putz . in the house, in the garage, in his wood shop, in the
yard . he loved bassets but he was really a terrier . always busy and always
moving.  Every year at Christmas, he would make the kids a wooden candle
holder.  For weeks he would be gluing up wood and then start shaping them on
the wood lathe.  I am not sure how much a 7 year old appreciated a
candleholder but I am sure they are more meaningful now.  I am sure he had
the largest collection of nuts and bolts in the world . but always had to
run to the hardware store for one he couldn't find.   And the yard . if I
couldn't find Craig, I would listen for the lawn mower . and there he would
be cutting and recutting and cross-cutting the yard until every blade of
grass was precisely 2.005 inches high and a beautiful diamond pattern showed
in the grass.  His favorite T-shirt proclaimed him to be head grounds
keeper.  Both of our kids learned to drive a tractor long before learning to
drive a car.  

Craig was many things to many people.   For me, he was my rock when I was
feeling down, my anchor when I was lost, my protector when life picked on
me, my supporter (sometimes reluctant) when I decided to get my advanced
degrees, my sounding board when I had ideas, my backup when I had
challenges, my fixer when things were broken, my hugger when I was sad.  But
most of all, he was my best friend.  

Alzheimer's is a vicious disease and it steals the essence of people in
little bits and pieces.  With Craig, it stole his ability to communicate.
But it did not steal his sense of humor.  A couple of months ago, one of the
care givers was trying to get him to talk and said to him, "Craig, use your
words".  He responded, with just a little glint in his eye "Woof-woof"!
The very next day, as he was staring out a window, I asked him what he was
doing.  He turned to me, again with that little glint in his eye, stuck his
finger up his nose and said "Picking my nose".   About a month ago on
September 26, 2016, Craig asked for a piece of paper and pencil.  He wrote
about 5 lines of words, seemingly disconnected and repetitive, but all
correctly spelled and included significant dates.  I could tell the writing
was processing thoughts and memories of his time in Viet Nam.  The most
interesting thing to me was the last word . "forgiven".  What he meant only
he knew but I choose to think that he was acknowledging that he was forgiven
of his wrong-doings and he forgave me of mine.  

On Monday, October 31, 2016, after eating his lunch, he walked up to me and
kissed me on the forehead.  I asked him "Who am I?"  He said "Sandi".  I
said "Am I your sister?"  He said, "My wife". Then he said "I love you" and
gave me a hug.   I hugged him back, kissed him and told him I loved him.  It
was our last good-bye.  Less than 24 hours later he was nearing death.  He
knew I was there and squeezed my hand . and he was gone.  Goodbye my friend,
my love.  Until we meet again.

Sandi Wittenberg

Red Bay Bassets

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