What Is the Best Way to Find Love: Lose Your Heart to Rescue
“No! Absolutely not! We do not need another one. It hurts too much when we lose them.” I was resolved in my response to Garry and Cameron…really…I was…really…until I saw her picture, and I melted, caved. I am so glad I did. It was just before Thanksgiving in 2008. My sister-in-law called us, knowing we had recently lost a fur baby. She was a rescue that we appropriately named Hope, because we saved her from the median of a four-lane highway when she was a six-week-old puppy. I am so thankful Mitzi cared enough to think of us when the family of a deploying Navy Seal that she knew was having to give up one of their dogs because his wife was pregnant. “Just let her send us the information”, Garry and Cameron said. It was all over when the email came - with a picture of this precious and perfect little face – and it was like I knew that she was meant to be ours. Of course, they sent a picture from when she was a puppy, a tiny, fluffy, little Silky Terrier, knowing that her adorable face would reel me in – hook, line and sinker – ensuring her placement into a loving home. They were right. Our whole family was in love, and we made plans to go to Mechanicsville, Virginia to get her. As Thom Jones said, “Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them and filling the emptiness we didn’t ever know we had.”
We met our little Bella in a PetSmart parking lot, and I brought a little bit of bacon for the trip home – to bribe her into liking us. I knew she would be confused and scared. She was about 16 months old. When she got home, she checked everything out, but then, it took her about 6 weeks to realize that her life of being dominated by other dogs was over. At first, she wouldn’t play with her toys – she just spent a lot of time with us – and on the back of the sofa. In time, however, she learned she was the queen of the castle. She has never looked back! I try to say I am the queen and she is the princess, but who am I kidding?
Bella is going to be 13 this year, and the years we have had with her have been so very precious to all of us. We each have a special relationship with her that I tried to capture in these photos. Garry tells her, “Don’t you bite my nose”, and she nips him, ever so gently. When he says, “Give me some love” she will come from whatever position she is in to give him a kiss. I am the only one who holds her in the crook of my arm – like she is just sitting there – waiting for something to happen. I am also the one from whom she has no problem demanding back scratches (she “demands” by bumping her butt against me and grunting until I give in – insert eye roll here). Cameron holds her like a baby, on her back, while he rubs her tummy, and she loves to lay on his outstretched legs. She also loves golf cart rides, relaxing on the beach at sunset, and…chicken. All of these things remind me that she has given us so much more than we have given her. As Roger Caras put it, “Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.”
Blessings ~
Lisa