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<DIV>Karen Muchmore writes in Daily Drool #15:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>While my
memory is not so good, I think two of my favorite drool stories were both
compliments of Beth Hinchliffe,I apologize if I have the wrong basset. The
stories I remember were a basset and a newly tarred driveway and a girl too
big for Santa's lap. Thanks for the laughs.<BR><BR>Karen
Muchmore</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>-------------------------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Oh Karen -- thank you for remembering my Duchess! Yes, those stories
were both of her. I hadn't thought of Duchess on poor Santa's lap in ages
-- thanks for bringing back the memory, I laughed again. She was just such
a magnificent mountain of glorious bassetness that Santa was quietly
horrified when he saw her being hoisted up onto him, and suddenly the
ho-ho-hoing stopped. Once we settled as much of her as we could on
his equally ample lap, we noticed that a not-unsubstantial amount of
her extra-fluffy butt oozed over and his elves had to bring in a table to
support the unanchored rear end (hers, not his). I don't know who looked
more miserable in the subsequent picture. (I guess it was Duchess, though,
since I'd dressed her in a Christmas outfit, with a Santa hat on her poor old
head, and a too-tight Santa suit that cinched her in the middle like a
generously-stuffed tri-colored sausage.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And the driveway story ... I can still picture her at the door, all wagging
in greeting, and the only things recognizable were her eyes, because the rest of
her was slathered in fresh tar from where she'd slid and flopped across the
newly-resurfaced driveway.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I'm so touched you thought of her. My Daily Drool family has been
such a big part of my life -- and my heart -- for 14 years now. Duchess
and I were in on the Drool right from the beginning, when our noble Nancy
created this special place. There were less than a dozen of us
originally, we'd met on AOL which used to have special interest groups -- you
can guess what our special interest was. In 1995, Nancy knew we were meant
to be a family, so she created the Drool and gave us a home. I think that
was also the year of the first howliday card exchange.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What memories of all these years! The shared joys and heartbreaks ...
the wonderful new friends ... and the incredible, loving, deep, and true support
this remarkable family has shared with each other. I really don't know how
I could have made it through losing Duchess ... and Blueberry ... and most
recently Emma ... without all of you.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This has been a wonderful thread. A great way to celebrate what the
Drool means to each of us -- whether we've been here 14 years or 14 days.
It's family!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Love to all the houndies,</DIV>
<DIV>Beth H. (Duchess ATB, Blueberry ATB, and Emma ATB)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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