Last Letter From Wall-E

Dear Gavin, 
Gramma says I can write to you today. She is being really nice to me today, because I am sick. I have a really bad stomach ache. I don't feel like doing much and I am not hungry. I like to lay by myself on Gramma's little couch. She calls it a sectional, a MINI sectional. I don't know why she has to name everything. It is just a couch that she sits on. It has a thing for her to put her feet on. This leaves lots of room for us dogs to sit by her. 

I really like to sit next to Gramma. Cujo shares, but Eddie gets jealous and tries to push me out of Gramma's lap. He does that to Toni Louise, too. I guess it is because he is the youngest. I used to be the youngest when I first came to live here. Gramma held me a lot then. There was just three of us dogs here then. Oscar was in charge and Emmy was his wife-dog. That big blue cat lived here then. His name was Gremlin. He was snobbish because of his pedigree. Emmy was sweet, though. She helped me get adjusted.

There was also a cat that stayed outside. She wouldn't come inside, even when it was very cold. Her name was Spooky. She didn't seem very spooky to me. Toni Louise came to live with us one day and then she was the youngest. I don't know why she has two names, do you? Gramma says that she is full of adventure, just like another dog Gramma had that was named Louise.

Both those cats were here one day and gone the next. I didn't care much for Gremlin, he wasn't very friendly. The other cat didn't come around us dogs much. But one day Emmy went to see the vet and didn't come back with Gramma. I thought maybe she just wanted to sleep over at the animal hospital like Toni Louise did one time when she got hurt by that truck and had to have her hip fixed. But Gramma was really sad and she told us that Emmy wouldn't be coming home. I was very sad. I really liked Emmy, she was my pal. Oscar was okay, but he would make fun of me when I did something dumb. I was just a puppy and had to learn. I bet he did dumb things when he was a puppy, too.

I had to take a nap, but I am back now. I am very tired, did I tell you that? I went to see a new vet. Papa took me, while Gramma said she was holding the fort down. That Gramma says the funniest things, we don't even have a fort! I was dreaming about the last time I visited you. As you know, I do not enjoy riding in cars. We came in the motorhome and that's not so bad with the shades down. Eddie likes to look out the window, so I stayed nice and low next to Gramma so I didn't have to see all those cars and trucks whizzing by. Eddie is just plain weird! Cujo and I slept most of the trip. Don't tell Papa, but Gramma did, too. Toni Louise sat right behind Papa and she would stand up and sniff his head. I have no idea why.

Anyway, when we got to your Uncle Jeff's house, your Mom came over and told Gramma to grab me and we went to your school to pick you up. I was not at all pleased about this. I rode in Gramma's lap, but I could see all the cars and stuff just flying by (your Mom drives fast, but I guess you are already aware of that!). Gramma kept her arms around me and kept telling me that we were going to surprise you. I still trembled all the way. Your Mom thought I must be sick, but I just hate car rides.

We parked and all of a sudden you opened the door and you were there! I was so happy to see you. Gramma says I scratched her legs when I jumped over the seat to you. I didn't care then, I just wanted to get to you! I did feel bad about that later, though. I was amazed at how big you were! You are way taller than Gramma, and even your Mom! I have to tell you, I have always been a little scared of your Mom. Gramma says she is a force to be reckoned with. Whatever that means.

I remember that time you came to see me when you were just a little kid (Gramma said you were just a pup like me) and your Mom was mad at you for losing your shoes. I have to confess, I stole them. It was me. I hid them in my kennel. I thought maybe you would stay if I did that. Then your Mom said she would just buy new shoes for you. I felt a little bad for getting you in trouble, but I liked the smell of your feet and the smell lasted a long time. Well, until Gramma went looking for a bad smell and found them. She said that little boys have stinky feet and that your shoes were disgusting and she threw them away! She let me keep your socks, but she washed them and it was never the same.

After Emmy left us, a new dog came to live with us. Cujo. Gramma brought him into our house and sat him down on the floor for all of us dogs to sniff. Toni Louise took an instant dislike to this little red dog and still is not fond of him. Oscar accepted him and Gramma said that I was Switzerland. I thought maybe that was a breed of dog, but Oscar told me it meant that I was very agreeable and did not like conflict. He tried to tell me that Switzerland was a country that always remained neutral in times of war. Whatever, I like Cujo, he is always nice to me. He doesn't annoy me at all.

Oscar was old and after some time he lost most of his teeth and he couldn't see very well. Gramma said that he had cataracts on his eyes. She likes to use big words, your Gramma. She explained that it was like looking through really cloudy glass. She told us dogs to be extra nice to him and not put our toys all over the floor, that he would trip. That cat named Martha, the boy cat, likes to annoy us dogs with what Gramma calls shenanigans. He will hide and jump out at us. Sometimes he will just stick his claws out to hurt us as we walk by. He was pretty mean to Oscar until Gramma had a sit down talk with him. He made the mistake of clawing Gramma and got put in the kennel to think about the ways of the world before she would let him out. Personally, I don't think he was sorry.

Oscar got very old and one day, Gramma was very sad and she took Oscar to our vet. She was crying and Papa was sad, too. Oscar came home with her, but he wasn't in his body anymore. We all wondered about that and Gramma told us that he had crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. She told us that he was happy there and that he could see again and that he was playing with Emmy and Gremlin and Spooky and other dogs and cats that I never met that had lived with Gramma.

This Rainbow Bridge has me thinking. I might want to go over that bridge soon … as long as it is not in a car. Gramma laughed at me. She promised that no cars were involved in that trip. She keeps kissing me on my head. You know how she is.

She has been feeding me today. I just ate some mashed potatoes and gravy. It was quite delicious. She let me lick the bowl and made the others stay away. I hope they don't feel bad about that. I had some cake, too. I like the cake, but she also fed me some cookie butter. Now that stuff is good. I think she might have hid some medicine in that. Don't tell her that I knew, okay? The medicine makes me feel very sleepy, but nothing hurts now. I think I will have to go have another nap before I finish this letter.

I had a wonderful nap, my boy. I dreamed of you again. I am still very tired and I hope to get more of that cookie butter soon. I don't mind that Gramma is hiding medicine in it. That vet told Papa that I was very sick and he sent some medicine home with us. I was so sick that I hardly noticed that I was in a truck. I think I might like to cross that Rainbow Bridge soon. Gramma promised to hold me in her arms until I was there. She has a nice lap and arms, that Gramma of yours. I am glad you don't have to be here and be sad like Gramma. Don't be sad when you read this, okay? I had the most wonderful life a dog could ever have and I was honored to have you as my boy. When you grow up and have a family with a boy of your own, don't forget that he will need a dog, too.

Love, your forever faithful dog,
Wall-E