Throwback Thursday: The J-Pets
09/05/2013
It didn't start out that way . . . and it wasn't intentional (at first!) . . . but when it comes to pets, we have a pattern going.
First, there was Jelly.
Tom and I adopted Jelly in Boise, Idaho in 1980. She moved with us all over the country: Idaho, Colorado, Texas, and, finally, Michigan. Her full name was Bonanza Jellybean (after one of the characters in Tom Robbins' Even Cowgirls Get the Blues), but we called her Jelly for short. She was wild and fun; a cat with Real Personality. She died in 1990, when Erin was 9 months old.
Next came Jambo.
Jambo (her full name was Jambo Marie) was a tiny, delicate kitty. Very low-key; perfectly fine just fading into the background. Jambo found her way into our lives in 1982 . . . and she lived for 18 years! Jambo overlapped with Jelly . . . and both kids . . . and with the next pet in our line-up. . .
Jake.
Oh, Jake. He was such a special dog that I still get choked up when I think about him. Jake was the dog of my children's childhoods! We adopted him from the shelter in 1993 - when he was 4 months old -- and Erin was 4 and Brian was 1. They grew up together . . . three puppies. Jake was a wonder. Really, a perfect dog in every way. Guardian. Playmate. Friend. (Except. . .well. . . there was that carpet incident. . . ) Jake lived to be 14; nearly making it to Erin's high school graduation. (But not quite.)
After Jake was gone, we decided to be without-a-pet for a while. To mourn and to re-group. But it didn't last long. Within 6 weeks of Jake's passing, we adopted . . .
Jenny!
Jenny came to us from the shelter as an 8-week-old puppy in the summer of 2007, just after Erin's high school graduation.
It was at this point, when we were thinking of a name for our new pup, that we realized . . . all of our pets' names had begun with the letter J!
Jelly.
Jambo.
Jake.
We decided it was a tradition we wanted to maintain. With Jenny, the J was intentional!
And now . . . Jo-Jo continues the J-line . . .
What a lot of great pets you have had! We didn't mean to give our pets the same first letter names but we did, too, in a way. When Dale and I got married he had a dog named Dusty and I had a cat named Maxwell. After Dusty died of old age and Max got hit by a car (horrible horrible time) we got a new dog and named her . . . Dixie. And then after a long period of mourning Max we got a new cat and named him . . . Mason. So we did the D thing and M thing again without even realizing we had done it until afterwards!
Posted by: Carole | 09/05/2013 at 07:53 AM
What lovely pets and I love the J names! Got me thinking about our pets' names. They are all over the board...no common theme at our house...
Posted by: Marilyn | 09/05/2013 at 10:12 AM
What great pets, and a cat that lived to 18! We have had a few (3, I think) that made it to 16.
We used to have that identical pedal boat!
Posted by: kmkat | 09/05/2013 at 12:10 PM
Once you have a pet it's hard to be without. I love hearing the story of the pets you've had and that you've had both cats and dogs. Our dog's names have always started with M, as we've been known for years as M&M. It's a tradition we intend to keep, although we may make the change change from dogs to a cat.
Posted by: margene | 09/05/2013 at 01:44 PM
Sweet! At one point I had three dogs, all of whom had names that were alternates for street drugs, but that wasn't entirely my doing...
Posted by: pacalaga | 09/05/2013 at 04:44 PM
I love this. Doug is one of 7 "D's" and the dogs were all D's too. Our dog names have no rhyme or reason!
Posted by: Patty | 09/06/2013 at 09:06 AM
ha! I assumed all those J-names were planned... you have had wonderful pets, and I'm so happy there's a puppy in your life!
Posted by: Mary | 09/08/2013 at 06:18 AM