I think it may have been C.S.Lewis who loved his dog so much that he believed he'd see his canine again in heaven. Anyway, I have never, ever imagined how one could feel that way about a dog until this past week.
I have been anti-pet and especially anti-dog FOREVER! But with the kids getting older and my unwillingness to produce-on-command a baby brother or sister for them, the clamoring for a dog had increased. At Christmas Brian and I had come close enough to purchasing one that we had selected a couple from shelter websites. At the last minute we got decided we didn't have enough money to do it. The whole process of the-perfect-canine selection was led by Brian's memory of his beloved childhood mutt, Duke. Every dog we looked at had to pass that test.
This past weekend, by pure 'coincedence' our neighbor friend who had moved away came back for a visit with his cute, little, well-behaved jack russell terrier and asked us if we wanted her. I reluctantly said, "Yes, we'll make this week a trial run while you are in town and see if everything you say about her stellar character and proper hygiene habits is actually true." (I didn't really say all of that, but it's what I was thinking!)
Within one evening, we were all in love with her. I'm not kidding. I mean I have this warm affection when I think about her and I'm planning a 7x7 photo album dedicated to photos of her. I even found myself comparing her cute ears with a friend's dog. Crazy, huh??
I absolutely believe that God dropped this little, well-behaved creature into our laps 'cuz He loves us AND 'cuz (if I haven't mentioned) this summer may be one of the hardest ever in our lives. Brian has just a crazy number of important initiatives at work that are both physically AND emotionally challenging. I love that he can come home and sit on the couch with this dog who is so like his childhood pet.
Did I mention the new pup's name?? Duchess.
(is that an ironic God or what??)
