Mae's Real Stories

Long ago we got a puppy named Dolly. When we got her she was around knee-high to Evelyn, who was five years old.

Dolly was the first big pet in our family; eventually she grew to be a middle-sized dog. I did not have any pets when I was a little girl. Evelyn had only small pets before this, like gerbils and a rather disgusting frog. She always wanted a better pet, so finally we decided to get Dolly.

As a young dog, Dolly could run really fast. We often took her to a park near our house and she ran and ran. If another dog was walking in the park, she would run back and forth and in little circles, trying to start a race. Finally the other dog got the idea and began to run too. Dolly always ran faster.

Dolly lived at our house for many years. She became calmer as she grew older, but when she was a puppy, sometimes she ran away from home and we had to go and look for her. We would call and call: "Dolly, Dolly." After a while, she always came back. When she got older, she still liked to run sometimes, but she ran more slowly and stayed with us when we took her for a walk.

Dry dog food from her own dish was supposed to be Dolly's only food because this is good for a dog. But every dinner time, she waited underneath the table. If a little piece of our food fell down, she grabbed it and ate it up. If no food fell down, she would tap her chin on our knees to get our attention. She seemed to be saying: "Feed me!"

When I cooked in the kitchen, Dolly sat next to my feet in case any little scraps fell down. OK, sometimes I gave her a taste even though I was not supposed to. She seemed to say "thank you."



Dolly had long shaggy hair. It usually fell in front of her eyes, but she seemed able to see through it. In summer, we took her to the dog groomer and she got a haircut. It made her look very different.

Another Pet: Marlowe the Cat

When Miriam and Alice were younger, they had a cat named Marlowe who usually stayed in their basement. When this picture was taken, Evelyn, Tom, and Miriam (the baby in the laundry basket) lived in Maryland in a different house than they do now. Right before Alice was born, they moved to Virginia and Marlowe moved with them. He lived the rest of his life in their basement in Virginia.