Tony

 Tony was the family dog when Donna was a young girl. Donna shared several Tony stories with me (I'd ask her to tell them to me again and again. She was a great storyteller). Here's one of my favorites.

During a visit to her grandfather's home, Tony went into the barn and got into a fight with a rat. Donna ran to her grandfather and urgently told him about this terrible thing. Her grandfather said, "He knows what he's doing."

This is Donna's favorite photo of Tony because her grandfather's beautiful gardens are visible in the background. She loved walking around these gardens with her Grandfather Peter Michels. He would tell her about each plant as they strolled along.

This is a color tinted black & white photo of Tony. Some of the tinting has faded away. Some of the spots are Tony's. Some of the spots are splashes of spaghetti sauce accidentally placed there by one of Donna's children. For this photo Fred Michels, Donna's father, placed Tony in a canoe. Fred wanted Tony to sit still and he knew that Tony was very afraid of water. Fred guessed correctly; Tony sat perfectly still for the photo.