Love

I remember the day Sadie was driven to the house I shared with a couple of roommates by a young mother of 5 who could no longer keep her great dane puppy. Sadie, whose real given name by that woman is really Mercedes, was in a carrier in the bed of her crew cab pick-up. She then let miss Mercedes out of the crate to jump off the tailgate to meet me. She then let four of the 5 kids, all small, out to perhaps say their goodbye to their dog. All I remember was seeing four kids lean all over the 100 lb "puppy" till they all fell over in a big pile on the ground. The meeting was meant to be a visit to see if we'd get along. I offered to take her in on the spot.

I've never had a dog. I had no idea what to expect. Sadie didn't know me, but seemed to trust me implicitly. We had such an awkward staring off. I did convince her to sleep on the bed rather quickly as I recall. The next day we left for Ely Nevada for a weeks work. I sang with the radio the whole time, loud and off pitch, to try to keep her occupied. I was so worried she was upset or bored. We made the trip just fine, but she wouldn't pee on leash as she's never been on one before. That habit was very happily broken a few years later, but let me tell you, when she found the joy of pooping on leash on walks more years later, I knew I had a happy dog. It seems like it took us a really long time to really get to know each other. This wasn't the typical-I looked into her eyes and we both knew it was meant to be.

This evening's edition of  this new story is being cut short. I have a very sick, possibly terminally ill baby laying between my legs who I've cried over all day who just started nudging me with her nose wanting pets. This is the most interactive she's been all evening and I plan to stay with her petting her head 'till one of us falls asleep.

Tomorrow, we have our third vet visit this past week and 1/2. We will hopefully find out what is wrong. Either she might have a treatable disease, or she has a huge mass on her abdomen. All I know is that there will be more tears tonight and I'm going to love my little girl like there is no tomorrow.