Dedicated to Mema, PapPap, and Josie.

It was a peaceful summer day in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where Josephine “Josie”, was sleeping atop the couch near the window of the house that she shares with her parents, Mema and PapPap. 

Josie, a 15 year old black and white Shih Tzu, is partially blind, moves slowly, and has the early symptoms of canine dementia. Although she is getting older, she still has a spunky personality and enjoys life.

Josie enjoys sitting near the windowsill because of the sunshine and sounds of the outside world. The window was slightly open today, allowing the smells of nature and Italian food to flow into the quaint house.

There is only thing that Josie loves as much as her house and her parents, and that is pizza from the Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. As the enticing smells find their way into the house, Josie jumps off the couch and heads towards the back door, which she knows is sometimes left open.

To her luck, the door is slightly ajar, allowing her to push it open with her nose and chase the smell of the delicious pizza. As she makes her way through the grass, luck was on her side again as she notices the gate slightly open. Once making it out of the backyard, Josie spots her friend/enemy, Sal the squirrel.

Sal is known for his destructive shenanigans. He often steals food from the bird feeder and knocks over Mema’s plants once the bird feeder supply runs low. One time Mema tried to scare Sal off the porch with a fake plastic owl, but Sal knew that was just a trick to try to scare him.     

  “So, I see you’ve finally made it out of the house,” says Sal, mockingly. Even though she can't see as well as she used to, Josie can tell by the tone of Sal’s voice that he has his hands on his hips in a mocking pose.

“I have been out of the house plenty of times, Sal!” Josie said defensively. At least I’m not living in a tree and eating plastic off bird feeders,” Josie retaliated. Sal grimaced but decided not to comment on eating plastic because he knows its true and he’s a bit ashamed of that habit.

“Anyways, I’m surprised you even found your way out here seeing as you can barely see,” Sal laughed at his joke in poor taste. “Well, I smelled the pizza at Lawnton Court Pizzeria and I just wanted to be closer to the smell,” Josie said.  

“Lucky for you I can show you the way because I’m in the mood for some pizza too. Well...maybe just the crust,” said Sal.  There were very few moments when Sal showed kindness to Josie but he understands the struggles of getting older.   “Sure. Lead the way,” Josie exclaimed.

Sal and Josie made their way to the park which was between the restaurant and Mema’s house. Josie reminisces about how PapPap would take her on walks here all the time before he got sick. Although her vision is only good in one of her eyes, she is able to see the baseball field and the playground in the distance.  

"I can’t even tell you how many peanuts I stole from those schmucks at the baseball games,” Sal said, laughing. “No wonder you’re so fat now. All you eat is food that isn’t meant for you,” Josie said, snickering. “Ha ha very funny, don’t act like you haven’t eaten shoo fly pie right off the table,” Sal fired back.

At the mention of shoo fly pie, Josie remembers that this is PapPap’s favorite dessert. He loves it so much that one time he didn’t even take the pie out of the box, he just took a plastic fork and ate the whole thing in one sitting. “That may be true but no one could eat a shoo fly pie like my PapPap,” Josie proudly stated.      

“You’re not wrong. What was that thing he would say before he would eat that pie?” Sal said while rubbing his chin. “Shoo-fly pie and apple pan dowdy makes my eyes light up and my stomach say howdy!” sang Josie.

Josie and Sal both laugh as they continue to make their way through the park. They pass the empty playground which is usually filled with kids running and playing. Josie can’t remember much about this spot but knows that she loved to take naps under the bench on her walks with PapPap.

Josie and Sal begin to walk down the street while looking at the neighboring houses. The two can see the 3B ice cream sign looming in the distance. Josie remembers all the times during the summer that she, Mema, and PapPap would walk a block to get their favorite ice cream, Black Cherry and Almond Joy.

Josie could barely make out the cars and humans heading in and out of 3B ice cream so she and Sal stuck as close to the side of the road as possible.“This is way too much commotion for me, despite how good the ice cream is,” said Sal. Josie felt the same way about being surrounded by so much noise.

As she gets older, Josie prefers to stay at home with her parents, relax on the couch, sit on the front porch, and go for her daily walks. “Let’s just hurry past here and get to Lawnton Court Pizzeria safely. “We could cut across to the 7Eleven or make our way across Derry Street. Which way do you want to go?” asked Sal.

3B Ice Cream