Monday, October 1, 2001

Murphy Connelly 1987-2001

Sunday, September 30 was a painful day for our family - the day Murphy left us. Chris and I "adopted" the world's sweetest beagle from the Dekalb Animal Shelter in May of 1990 - she was three years old. I had stopped by the shelter a couple of times, looking for the perfect dog, and took Chris back with me that afternoon, knowing that he would never leave without her! She had that "I am going to go home with you" look in her eyes and - she did! She was a member of our family immediately - and provided us with some great entertainment and love.

We learned early on that a beagle's goal in life is to "get out" - in Murphy's case, it was to dig under, squeeze through, jump over or sneak out of the backyard! Her target was FOOD - which gave her more pleasure than just about anything! We once found her with her head in a Colonel Sanders Fried Chicken "bucket" - which she had finished off by herself! She came home with McDonald's hamburgers, still in the wrappers! She discovered that a now-defunct coffee shop in downtown Avondale discarded pastries in the dumpster behind the Tudor
village - she raided it whenever she could manage to escape the backyard and dash across traffic on North Avondale Road! She visited the Pizza Café often in her younger days - their dumpster was another favorite spot! A favorite delicacy was "squirrel" - but, she had to wait for one of her siblings (our cats, McKee and Razz) to catch them for her!! McKee and Razz will miss her!

If you have visited our house - or yard - during the past 11 years, you remember Murphy! She loved you immediately - and hoped you would share your food with her. Her favorite spot when we had friends over was under the table - hoping to catch any tidbits that fell! She thought she was invisible when she crept out of the kitchen into other parts of the house - she loved company and parties, partly because she could sneak around undetected!

Murphy and Don were best friends - not simply because he fed her whatever and whenever she wanted - but because she loved him totally and he spoiled her completely. They both were cheese connoisseurs! They spent every evening in Don's studio while he "worked" - I suppose she came to love baseball and football as much as her "daddy"! Chris was her buddy - they grew up together and she was always the first one he looked for when he returned home - whether from college or from his honeymoon! He has visited us daily since he and Jackie
have been married - but, only to roll around on the floor/grass with Murphy. She had recently learned to love Matthew - she let him sit on her, which delighted him!

Lately, Murphy had slowed down - she wasn't waiting for me at the gate when I came home in the afternoons - so, we understand that she was ready to join Panda and Molly where she could chase squirrels again! Yesterday she told us good-bye with her beautiful brown eyes - and we will miss her. Rest in peace, old girl!

Kay Judy Connelly