{"id":1589,"date":"2010-08-04T02:37:45","date_gmt":"2010-08-04T06:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2010-08-04T02:37:45","modified_gmt":"2010-08-04T06:37:45","slug":"tribute-clarence-the-singing-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/tribute-clarence-the-singing-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"TRIBUTE: CLARENCE, THE SINGING DOG"},"content":{"rendered":"

TRIBUTE TO MY BOY, CLARENCE<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

In The Prophet<\/em>, when speaking \u201cOn Love,\u201d Kahlil Gibran said basically, that without love, \u201c\u2026you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.\u201d I\u2019m so madly in love with Clarence that this past week I cried more than all of my tears; I truly have cried from so deep inside my being that I can\u2019t believe any of me is left. But, as much pain as I\u2019m in, without my precious boy, I have also <\/span>laughed all of my laughter, for which I\u2019m more than grateful.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mr. X and I could not have asked for anything more out for our choice of the one being to share our lives. Clarence was the best dog I\u2019ve ever seen or heard of. Not only was he the sweetest, most loving and caring and affectionate pal ever, but he literally didn\u2019t give us even one second to be angry at him for in the almost eighteen years that we were blessed to have him with us.<\/p>\n

As much as I never wish sadness on any other person, there\u2019s comfort in knowing that the pain is not ours alone–Clarence had so many fans and friends. Even people with their own pets always told me how special they thought Clarence was. I\u2019m so happy that so many people got to experience his exquisite <\/span>sweetness.<\/p>\n

We got Clarence by accident. Mr. X was going to a breeder to get a dog for his parents and I tagged along to make sure that he didn\u2019t come home with one for us<\/em>. I felt that we were always too busy for such a major responsibility at that time. Then Clarence came out with his brother and my heart stopped–he was just the most adorable thing ever. (And no–it\u2019s not because he was a tiny white toy poodle–that\u2019s all the breeder had! It\u2019s because he was already funny while being so innocent. He was such a showman. I always say he came out like Jackie Wilson, the old R&B singer who was known as \u201cMr. Excitement.” Clarence was practically doing splits like Jackie!)<\/p>\n

So, after all my resolve, I kept telling Mr. X that we just had to have him. He was really in a rush to buy Clar\u2019s bro and get home, and said that we can think it over and come back for him some other time. I was holding Clarence on my lap, sort-of sitting up in my arms, and I looked at him and said, \u201cClarence, if you want to come with us, you have to tell me right now.\u201d (That\u2019s correct–I knew his name before we even got him!) He looked up at me, paused for just one second, then reached up and kissed me on the lips! And that was it. (And he continued to shower me with kisses his entire life, up until the very end. I\u2019m so grateful for every single one of them.)<\/p>\n

He started appearing on my show immediately, to rave reviews. But when he started his singing career, he became a real <\/span>star. Audience members have even sworn that they\u2019ve heard him say the words \u201cHappy Birthday,\u201d when singing that tune on the show. And I don\u2019t even doubt it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One time, when he and I were staying with friends in New York, a talent coordinator from L.A. called there, asking for me. She queried, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d When I answered, \u201cNew York,\u201d she paused then asked, \u201cAnd where\u2019s Clarence?\u201d A tad amused, I said, \u201cHere with me,\u201d to which she asked, \u201cWill he be back by\u201d such-and-such date? Notice, she didn\u2019t care if I\u2019d <\/em>be back, just Clarence. Turns out, they wanted to book him for a show! To sing! I hated to point out that they he probably wouldn\u2019t sing without me<\/em>, and she said, \u201cOh, you\u2019ll be on the show with him!\u201d But notice–she didn\u2019t ask if I <\/em>was available on that date, just Clarence! That boy was a star!<\/p>\n

Another time, when I was visiting my parents, I brought one of my shows on tape for them to see. I knew my mother would be interested, but my father was not my biggest fan. So, I was shocked when he voluntarily moved over to the couch to watch, too. I paced nervously in the adjoining room, surprised that he was watching the entire half hour. He was hanging in the whole time. With five minutes left, he leaned over to my mother and said, \u201cI thought the dog <\/em>was on the show.\u201d For some reason, Clarence didn\u2019t sing on that particular episode until the end, but my father so wanted to see him that he hung in there the whole show, listening to my frivolity, waiting it out for Clarence to appear! I have a feeling that many viewers did the same thing!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry this is so long, but, thankfully, so was his life, so I have many stories to tell. Just one more, that I really love. I\u2019m so grateful that Clarence was healthy enough to travel to New York for Thanksgiving 2008 with us. As many friends as I have on the east coast, and as much fun as I have, the most special times were when Mr. X, Clarence, my mother, and I were all together in the house there. Incredibly cozy.<\/p>\n

But one day, I couldn\u2019t find him. I scoured the house and was beginning to panic, screaming \u201cClarence\u201d with more fervor than Brando yelled, \u201cStella!!!\u201d Mr. X and my mom were crazy, too. Finally, my mother started laughing and said, \u201cI found him.\u201d We ran to the living room, but couldn\u2019t see him anywhere, and thought, for a brief second, that perhaps my mother had gone a tad nutty. Then we followed her eyes to one of the couches. It\u2019s the one with all of her dolls and stuffed animals that she collects. (Okay, so maybe she already is a bit eccentric.) There among them was Clarence! We had totally missed him because he so blended in with the inanimate pals. He was his most adorable. He looked up at us, like, \u201cWhat\u2019s the fuss?,\u201d and we just left him there. But we remembered to look there first from then on.<\/p>\n

Clarence was truly the best friend I\u2019ve ever had in my whole life. No one in the world, including Mr. X and my little mother, has ever been so in love with me. This whole year, he wouldn\u2019t even go to bed without me! I always tried to put him to bed with Mr. X and then go write. Within a minute, he was up and at \u2019em, sitting next to me, whining for my attention. We did this about ten times a night. Finally, I realized that I had to make believe I was going to sleep with him, and then sneak out when he was asleep, like you do with a child. More times than not, I actually did fall asleep, proving that my boy was just looking out for my health–he knew that I\u2019d been running on fumes and needed to go to sleep. What other friend does that???<\/p>\n

This year began with my serious back issue, which made me stay in the house for 90% of the time in February, March, and April. I\u2019m so grateful now that it happened, disturbing and painful as the ordeal was, because it gave me every second of that time to spend with Clarence. I\u2019d go through it all over again in a heartbeat just for those precious moments.<\/p>\n

When he got sick three and a half weeks ago, I begged him to stay with us. All of his doctors said it would be the end immediately. When I called the hospital doc, who had just met him, a week later to ask a question, she said she was shocked he was still with us and that he\u2019s an amazingly strong boy. He did seem to confound the medical world, almost right from the beginning. He had health issues even then, and a couple of difficult illnesses over the years.<\/p>\n

But Clarence\u2019s will was very strong, and he knew that I needed some more time with him. I so appreciate his kindness to give me those extra few weeks to spend together. And he kissed me like crazy, seeming to want to make them last a lifetime for me. He didn\u2019t leave until I said to please go, which even Mr. X and I were shocked that I finally did. But he hadn\u2019t suffered at all, and I wanted to make sure that he didn\u2019t. He kissed me earlier, asked for his dog \u201cchocolate,\u201d and then he left, with us kissing him the whole time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I will miss my beloved boy for the rest of my life. But, as he was two months shy of his eighteenth birthday, I\u2019m telling myself that he just went off to college. And since he\u2019s the smartest boy ever, I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll continue on for his Masters and Ph.D. So, he won\u2019t have tons of time to come home often, anyway.<\/p>\n

Though I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll think of him just about every second of our lives, there\u2019s one extra special time that we\u2019ll also have. Named after our favorite angel, Clarence from It\u2019s A Wonderful Life<\/em>, we\u2019ll be reminded of him each Christmas when we see Jimmy Stewart look skyward at the end of the film, wink, and say, \u201cAtta boy, Clarence.\u201d …Atta boy, indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TRIBUTE TO MY BOY, CLARENCE   In The Prophet, when speaking \u201cOn Love,\u201d Kahlil Gibran said basically, that without love, \u201c\u2026you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.\u201d I\u2019m so madly in love with Clarence that this past week I cried more than all of my<\/p>\n

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