I never would have thought in a million years that my “little girl” would have been the subject of an article in a newspaper by a famous columnist…  But she is and here’s how it happened:

I was at the Michigan Humane Society’s annual Bow Wow Brunch, Sunday, thinking how cool it would be to have Pepper  on the cover of the Humane Society’s annual calendar. That was one of their auction items. Bidding hit ten grand and I knew it wasn’t going to happen.

Pretty soon, it was my turn to speak. My goal had been to tell some cute and funny stories about my late parrot, Pepper. I have 30 years of material, but for the first time in my life, I just couldn’t do it. We lost her just a couple of weeks ago and the pain is still too fresh. I thanked the Humane Society for all their help with Pepper and sat down. I was kind of embarrassed I’d lost it in front of the Motor City’s movers and shakers.

Detroit News columnist and good friend Neal Rubin was in the audience and watched me come unraveled. He came up to me, later, and offered to tell the stories I couldn’t and give my little girl more immortality than a calendar cover ever could. I owe him my sincere thanks. Read the entire article here. Please.

Pepper Getting Scratches (Dr Don)