CLASSY LADY

You’re looking at a picture of a Classy Lady: Olivia, Houston Steve’s eleven-year-old standard poodle.

Alas, eleven is as old as Olivia is going to get. She passed away Tuesday after a sudden bout of bloat, AKA gastric dilatation-volvulus. It’s a condition to which dogs with certain physiques are susceptible, Great Danes and Saint Bernards heading the list. And standard poodles, unfortunately, are high on that list as well.

Olivia would be there to greet us as we’d arrive at Houston Steve’s for our weekly poker game. Sometimes she would park herself on the stairway landing on the way to the basement, as if to say, “Are you idiots at it again?” And she would sit patiently by, watching us stuff our faces at our Aubrey/Maturin dinners.

Houston Steve’s daughter has written a loving tribute to this beloved Animal Companion.

Olivia, requiescat in pace. We’ll miss you...