As you should know Alexis (or Lexy for short) is a male dog and so of course the "s" in his name is silent.  When you pronounce the "s" in "Alexis" it makes it a girl's name. Lexy is a just larger than medium sized, brindle colored "Your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine-what-kind-he-is" dog. According to his first vet's best estimate he was born some time between May and July of 1995 so by default we celebrate his birthday on June 1.

Big Sister Jessica, Little Brother Jonathan and Mommy Jan found him homeless in the Susquehanna, Pennsylvania wilderness (OK so he turned up on their front doorstep one day). Daddy John named him Alexander and they decided to bring him to keep Grandpa Nick and Grandma Marguerite company, because their other dog Snowflake went to Doggie Heaven in 1992. So they gave him a bath took him to the vet for a check up, and then put a big red bow around his neck and brought him to Grandpa and Grandma's home in Clifton, New Jersey the night before Thanksgiving.

"Alexander is your early Christmas present!" they said.

Grandma took one look at the frisky 5 month old puppy and said: "'Alexander' is too big a name for such a little dog!"

Uncle Alan (that's me) said they should name him "Brownie" or "Brin" after his coloring.

But Grandpa said: "His name is 'Alexis!' 'Lexy' for short!"

Lex, who was either abandoned or ran away from an abusive or neglectful owner finally had a proper home. But time cannot stand still and since no one really lives happily ever after, our never ending story continues on a few sad notes:

Grandma and Grandpa were getting older long before Lex had come into their lives and their hearts. Grandma was already suffering the beginnings of senile dementia and Grandpa was already starting to lose his eyesight to macular degeneration complicated by diabetic retinopathy. Grandma would coo and baby talk to her new puppy: "Dolly doggy, dolly doggy! Lexy's Mommy's dolly doggy!" But over the course of the next year or so she would do less and less to care for him. Grandpa did most of the house work and cared for Lex and now for Grandma, too. I helped a little whenever I was between jobs, but when I was working a lot of overtime Grandpa had to do everything all by himself which is why he had several small strokes in 1999 and several larger ones in 2000. He spent almost the entire month of January 2000 in the hospital and rehab center.

Jan hired a live in aide so I wouldn't have to stay home from work to care for Grandma. Lex Loved her as if he is the one for whom she was here to provide care; but, neglectful as she was he loved his Mommy more. I was working late at that time and I would alway come home after the aide had put my Mom to bed. She would always close the bedroom door without letting Lex stay inside the room with Grandma. When I returned from work Lex would always come to me to open the bedroom door so he could sleep with his Mommy.

When he came home from rehab Grandpa really liked the lady but he liked his independence more so as soon as he felt well enough he let her go against my and Jan's advice. By May he regretted that decision. Grandma went into the nursing home on June 1, 2000 and we settled into the routine of visiting her every Sunday.

The first time we tried to bring Lex to visit Grandma he did not like being there. He is normally very well behaved when he is brought to new places but the nursing home made him very anxious. Grandma seemed indifferent to his presence.

I asked her: "Ma, are you glad we brought Lexy to see you?"

She answered with a half hearted "yeah." Her next response shocked us.

I asked: "Do you want us to bring him next week?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't deserve him!"

When we got home Lex ran upstairs and hid in his Daddy's bedroom. He hasn't seen his Mommy since.

One month later I lost my job and two months after that my Dad had yet another stroke. Suddenly Uncle Alan had to do everything all by myself: The house work, caring for Lex and now for Grandpa, too! Even though I  wasn't working I still needed help with my Dad because since July 2001 he no longer liked to be left alone while I went out on errands. Jan, John and the children (who are almost grown up now) lived three hours away and therefore cannot help. So I hired a part time aide who came in 20 hours per week to do some of the house work and sit with Grandpa while I went shopping. Lex Loved her as if he was the one for whom she was here to provide care.

She worked for us until April 2002 when my Dad needed a quadruple CABG. While he was recuperating the rehab center mismanaged his prescriptions, especially the pills that help his memory. He came home in a severely weakened condition both physically and mentally. Suddenly I needed full time help and was forced to hire a man strong enough to help me lift my Dad if he fell down, who then came in for about 50 hours per week. Unfortunately the combination of my SUI benefits with my Dad's pension and Social Security still didn't cover the expense of employing the aide and so Grandpa's savings rapidly depleted. I got him to qualify for medicaid so he could join Grandma at the nursing home, but they never had a bed for him so I put him in a different home on June 3, 2004.   On June 5 Grandma passed away.  My Parents never got to spend those last two days together.

On November 2, 2004 I sold the house I grew up in so I could pay a crushing debt load.  On November 11 Lex and I moved from Clifton to Endicott, NY.

On January 23, 2006 I met Christa.  We were married on August 5 in a double ceremony with Chris's Daughter Jennifer and our new son-in-law Charlie (Lex came to our reception which was a picnic) and went to the New York Renaissance Faire on our honeymoon.

On December 11, 2006, Alexis Polyniak passed away at the age of 11 1/2 years old.  Chris and her Mother were with him.

As for what kind of dog Lex was, Jan thought he looked like a Pit Bull, Grandpa thought he looked like an Australian Cattle Dog and one vet thought he looked like a Catahoula. Uncle Alan thinks they all needed new glasses.  My cousin Bruce said he was a Mountain Cur. What kind of a dog do you think Lex was? Write to Lex c/o Uncle Alan, A.K.A. "The PLYNKman," B.K.A. "Big AL," C.K.A. "A.J." D.K.A. "AWL the Wiseguy(who?)" at plynkmac@earthlink.net .

Before we found the Cool Mutts Club, Lexy and Uncle Alan looked for other dog pages to link to but all we found were site after site with the same mean jokes about "Why Dogs Are Better Than..." O.K. Here is ours:

While Uncle Alan loves all dogs, cats will do in a pinch. Click here to read the story of "Uncle Alan and Ebony the Tough Alley Cat!" (it has a very sad ending -- I cried as I was writing it!). The page also has a poem I wrote when Spot, my first dog died (I cried when I wrote that too).



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