A Forever Love

As a child, our family had a couple of dogs. I don't remember the first one, as I was just a baby. Her name was Freckles. She was a cocker spaniel and had a litter of pups. I only know this because there is a picture of me at about 9 months old, poking my finger at the puppies and smiling. My second dog was Pepi, a male poodle mix. I can't exactly remember when we got Pepi, but I'm pretty sure my dad just brought him home one day. As was the case with our second dog, Bo, another black poodle mix, who needed a home as well. He never checked with mom, he knew she'd just make room for the dog, give it a bath, and spoil it rotten. I grew up with both dogs, but they were always my parents' dogs, never just mine. Muffin, our first cat, was found in the trunk of my dad's car. Molly (actually a boy), our maine coon, just showed up one day and my mom and I both began secretly feeding him. We also "secretly" built him a shelter together right outside the sliding glass door. It didn't take long before Molly became a house cat and lived for almost 20 years. Both Pepi and Bo were hit on the busy road we lived on. Muffin died of feline leukemia, as did Molly. Four of the worst days of my childhood. Ones I will never forget. My first dog that belonged to me was Sophie, a bearded collie mix, who we adopted from a local shelter. Apparently she was found wandering a busy road. She was black and white, fluffy, adorable, friendly, and about 13 weeks old. On the day we adopted her, the shelter had just received a request from someone else...a medical research lab! How relieved we were that we got there just in time and she became our family. It was love at first sight! We didn't have any kids back then, so she quickly became our "baby". She made friends everywhere. People would stop us to tell us what a beautiful dog she was. When we brought our babies home from the hospital, Sophie was the first to give them a gentle nudge and stolen lick! She watched Disney movies with them, ate their dropped cheerios, and followed them in the stroller. I won't share the rest of the story, because it's still pretty hard to talk about. We lost 15 year old Sophie in June of 2011, after the hardest week of our lives. Why am I sharing all of this? Well, it just occurred to me that every animal we have ever had was a rescue. Every animal we've had came with a story, usually a sad one. We've never "picked out" a perfectly new puppy or kitten. We've always chosen a pet with a past, a problem, a need. My heart has always been moved at the thought of a pet being left in a shelter. I wish I could save them all. I wish people knew the blessing that they are, whether they are unsocialized, old, or whatever their handicaps are. And because of these so-called 'imperfect' pets, my life will never be the same. And had the shelter rep known exactly who I am and what my heart is, we would have Yofi with us now. Instead, we were met with cynicism, mistrust, and were unfairly judged. That certainly had nothing to do with the animals. That was personal, and she didn't even know us! Here's the thing. Her mistake caused Yofi to become someone's "dream come true" (her new mommy's actual words). So it worked out almost the same way we received all of our animals! And how could I be sad about that? I can't! I have received comments that I won't publish for your privacy, but I want to respond in some way. My heart has been so touched by yours. The fact that you have cared so much for Angel and for all of the dogs is just amazing to me. You are a unique individual!! (there are more than one of you out there!) I want you to know that Yofi's new family is AMAZING! Our lives are very similar, our families are similar, and our dogs are definitely similar. For this person to contact me and say the kind things that have been said to me is what I would call my Christmas Blessing. Her words were healing to our broken hearts and gave us hope that we will see Yofi again, only in a playdate setting with his mom! And not only that, we will plan a future "puppies and families" reunion with Angel! So all is well, and I hope you feel better knowing that. As far as adopting any of Angel's "friends", we will pray about it, but at this time I'm not sure we could handle being let down again. I am praying for the dogs to find perfect families in the meantime. And I am hoping that you will encourage your friends and families to go out to the petfinder websites and find yourself a pet to love. You will be forever changed, forever grateful, and forever have love in your hearts!!