"You wanna do what?"
Surely I had misunderstood my wife.
"I said I want to take Tim to have his picture taken with Santa... Do you want to go?" Darlene asked. So, I had heard correctly, but I thought she was joking. A picture of her dog with Santa? I went along with the joke, "Sure. After that, maybe we can catch a good basket-weaving competition!"
The look on her face said she wasn't joking.
The next day we drove to the animal shelter where Darlene had adopted Tim several years before. It didn't take long to get the snapshot of her dog (Wasn't much of a line as most people don't get pictures of their dogs with a stranger in a padded suit, but I digress). I had hoped we'd make a short story of such a silly idea, but then Darlene suggested we look at the dogs for adoption. The animal shelter had so many dogs! Big dogs, little dogs, dogs of every color and breed. All would love to fill the void left by someone's pet loss!
When I reached the fourth dog kennel, I stopped dead in my tracks. Long, wavy, jet-black hair with a white star on her chest and big brown eyes - this lab mix was gorgeous! Unlike many of the other dogs, this dog was quiet, just sitting there looking back at me as I stood staring at her. For many years after, Darlene would say, "After he saw you Sam, he wouldn't even look at the other dogs. He just stood there staring at you for the longest time. Yep, you were the dog!" While it's true I was admiring this beautiful canine, I was mainly trying to figure out what it would take to get Darlene's agreement to adopt. At only 10 months, this dog still had growing to do. Darlene would probably be against adopting a dog of Samantha's size, but I REALLY wanted that dog! Somehow, I sensed she was the dog I had waited to have for a long, long time.
Since I was about 10 years old, I wanted a big dog, one that required both arms to hug; a dog that was loving and gentle. For various reasons, that never happened. It was something I never prayed about, either. I had the mistaken idea that one shouldn't pray for something like a dog. Then I "discovered" Philippians 4:6, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;" (emphasis mine). Little did I know how significant this scripture would be later when dealing with a pet loss.
I still haven't figured out why God decided to bless my socks off by giving me this big lab mix, the very kind of dog I had wanted for almost three decades. Even though I didn't doubt the numerous scriptures in the Bible that make it very clear that God does indeed know all the secrets of our heart, it boggled my mind that he would actually prove that to me personally by blessing me with the dog I secretly wanted.
We spent some time at the animal shelter getting to know Samantha, and I was happy Darlene took to her so quickly. After filling out the dog adoption paperwork, we agreed to come back the next day to adopt this wonderful lab mix. The following day, we brought Samantha home and let her explore the house to get used to her new home. Darlene noticed some blood on the floor and kinda freaked, thinking Samantha had cut herself. But Sam wasn't injured - she had gone into heat. That realization made both of us REALLY freak!
"Oh man, what are we gonna do?" I said.
"I don't know - I'm not a vet!"
"Whaddya mean, you don't know? You're a labor and delivery nurse!"
"It's not the same thing, Gregg."
"Well, it's a lot closer than my job in video!" I protested.
What a predicament! The necessary "apparatus
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Bereavement
Dog Health
Dog adoption / Fun stuff / Misc.
Video
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