“You didn’t need to do this”

Scarlett. (iPhone photo by BobbaLew.)

A friend of mine named ****** ****** set about doing framed prints of one of my photos of my beloved Scarlett, pictured above.
Scarlett was Irish-setter #6, rescue #4. She’s the dog that helped me survive the death of my wife.
****** is the oldest daughter of my friend *** ******. I’ve been eating out with *** since our wives died, his about a year after mine.
Occasionally ****** joins us, among others similarly bereaved. ****** is not a widow, but lost her mother.
Last Thanksgiving I had to put Scarlett down. She was 13, and getting seizures. She was still spunky, but old. 13 is 91 in human years.
I thought the world of Scarlett, and so did ******. ****** worked in a nearby Runnings store back then. I visited occasionally with Scarlett. ****** gave her treats, and Scarlett dragged me around. Runnings also sold pet stuff, which Scarlett shoplifted.
Of all the dogs I (we) had, Scarlett was best. Probably my purest Irish to date, and extremely lively. Innumerable critters died in her jaws; at least 20 rabbits. Even at 13 I thought she might snag another.
Very spunky, yet a fabulous dog. Not a pain, nor hard to control. Very much a hunter, yet never destroyed anything. I encouraged her to be a dog.
****** loved Scarlett too. She knew how much Scarlett meant to me. So she was as devastated by Scarlett’s passing as I was. She wanted to do something, so asked me for a picture of Scarlett. She then set about wrastling a good print out of our wondrous technology.
That picture is iPhone, so she wouldn’t run into the “jaggies” problem. It’s too big. Resized down to 5-by-7 won’t prompt jaggies.
Then she had to fiddle her printer, which like mine can prompt problems. With mine I get occasional blobs of ink. With hers the ink flaked off. Her print might have tiny areas with no ink at all.
I also remember how hard it was to get my computer/printer to print right. Everything has to be sized correctly, otherwise a section might not be included, e.g. a print of Scarlett without paws.
With me it’s “try it and see what happens.” Reams of paper got tossed printing junk. —Yet another tree falls in the forest; all to supply my insatiable demand for paper, most of which got shredded for recycling.
I have things pretty much under control, but ****** may be where I was years ago.
She texted me about 89 bazilyun trashed prints. She also texted me to hang around after eating with ***. She wanted to deliver her results, and was working ‘til 5:30. Usually *** and I gather at 5.
She also wanted to avoid mutual crying over her Scarlett pictures.
So here I am home with a framed print of my beloved Scarlett. Best dog I ever had.
“You didn’t hafta to do this,” I’d say to ******.
“Did too,” she’d say.
So here we are both reduced to teary blubbering. Scarlett was a fabulous dog.