This morning, we took our beautiful Bonnie girl to the vet to be put down. We had been agonizing over this decision for weeks, but after putting aside our own wants and needs, we were able to make the decision that Bonnie needed us to make. Our sweet girl was normally around 80 to 85lbs. This morning, she weighed in at 35lbs. Knowing that she was shutting down simply made saying that she was done easy to say outloud, but not so easy to follow through. Her last gift to Daryl and I was to lick each of our hands, as if she were saying, Goodbye Mom, Goodbye Dad. Heavenly Father, if I never have to do that again, it will be all too soon.
I cried, then laughed, then cried again the whole ride home. What I couldn't deal with was the guilt of wanting to get another dog, NOW. I told Daryl that I didn't want to go home. The thought of facing an empty house hurt my heart even more. We shared memories back and forth with eachother: remember when she?, and then when she?
And then we drove by the Tractor Supply parking lot. Of course, there were people there with dogs for sale, there always were! We had actually gotten Bonnie from that very parking lot almost 10 years earlier, to the day. But she was free. In the 10 years we were blessed with Bonnie, we had not only never seen any other free dogs, but none that looked like our girl.
As I drove by, I saw the puppies. Black and tan, just like my sweet girl. Turning the corner, I told Daryl, it can't hurt to look. We will JUST LOOK. I pulled up.. (I was just looking), rolled down the window (couldn't hurt anyone just to look, right?), and asked how much they were. When the girl said, "Oh, they're free. We're just giving them away", I knew we weren't just looking anymore. We took the only girl there was. I sat there and petted her and cried, she looked EXACTLY like my Bonnie. Then I heard the girl say to the puppy she was holding, "You are the only one left". I looked out the window, then at my husband, who was nodding his head in earnest and holding his hands out, and then I said, "WE'LL TAKE HIM!"
I know in my heart that my girl is looking down at our new additions and wagging her tail like crazy. I also know that it was nothing short of Divine Intervention that brought us right back to THAT parking lot, where there were FREE puppies who looked EXACTLY like our precious girl.Just when we needed them the most.
Welcome to the family, George and Gracie.
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