Then, one day there was another...
Our cat of 16 years had died and I was missing her. My daughter worked for a vet at the time and came across a baby who'd been abandoned. We brought her home/ She was shy around others and if you visited you likely would not see her. She didn't like crowds. She came alive when it was only Don and I home. She traipsed back and forth across me at night, (my face if I wasn't watchful) there was "rocket butt" runs in the night, skips, tumbles and play that rivaled a ninja.. I had named her Miss Chevious and she certainly was. In her tenth year, she became sick.. after vet stays, tests, antibiotics, fluids and daily subQ's to keep her comfortable, she died quietly beside me in the summer of 2014. Kitty Witchens died early in 2015 from cancer at the age of twelve. For the first time in over thirty years our home was very quiet. No furry friends greeted me at the door.
Time marches on as it has a way of doing and there are grandchildren, new interests and of course, we have the horses. Our home has been lonely still. Don has never needed animals in the way I do but I knew it was time for me to begin looking for a new little friend.
Meantime, the new neighbors moved in across the street. A nice young man with daughters in high school, a significant other in Med school and a business that he works very hard. They are hardly home- we pass in our yards and wave. They have a little dog, black and bouncy. I'm not sure what he is, he's shaggy. He has escaped across the road a few times. (We live on a cul de sac) I dared the grandchildren to talk to or touch him, we do not want him thinking he belongs here. I would take him home each time. He snuggled down in my arms each time I took him home as if he knew me. Little did I know my Don had planted a seed. Quietly, without my knowledge he had shared with our neighbor, "if you ever feel you need to give this dog up... "
One January night I stood in our front door facing our neighbor, while he holds this little black bundle of energy, a bag of dog food in the other hand. [My husband grinning like a Cheshire cat]
He explained, it isn't fair to the puppy, being home all day alone. We are far too busy at this time to have a dog. I want you to have him. Your husband told me you were looking for a pet. What? We tried to pay him and he wouldn't have it. No, he says. You need the dog and the dog needs you.
As I write today, my buddy is beside me. A sweet mini-schnauzer who was not very socialized or house trained due to being alone. [He learned quickly] I think, how kind and loving to do what's right for the dog.
His shots were updated and we got him a good clip where we could see his eyes. His name was Benjamin Button, we call him "Buttons." He's a delightful companion, loves the grandchildren, camping trips and long walks around the neighborhood. As for our home, it feels wonderful again. It makes me think of the Savior. He desires we remain close, depend on and trust Him, spend our days and nights with Him. There's a joy here in our home again, just like with my Savior.
Meet Buttons.
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