85:365   sunday, march 25, 2012


Dog.

We bought our first house a year after we were married.  It was terrible (but that's a story for another time).  We spent weeks cleaning and renovating to make it habitable.  We borrowed my parent's camper trailer and parked it out front of the house.  I'm sure our neighbors cringed.

A week before we moved into the house, Graham called me at work.  He found the one.  In the local paper was an ad for a brown and white american staffordshire puppy - five months old.  Free. 

My first thought was, "A puppy?  In a trailer?  Really?  Is this a good idea?".

Yes.  It was.

Graham immediately called, drove straight over to see her.  He waited all day with the owner - a woman in her mid thirties, working full time, going to school full time, with a 6 year old daughter and a new boyfriend.  No time for pups.    

After work, I came up to meet the owner and the pup.  Man was she cute.  Huge feet, floppy ears, skinny body and personality to burn.  She zipped around the house as fast as her legs would carry her.  Eventually, she settled down and the owner was able to see us interact.  She had 60 calls on Molly, and chose us to take her home.  We were sent off with a puppy, collar, leash, crate and a bag of dog food.

We fell in love.  Hard.  Molly went to work with Graham every day.  She learned to sit and stay, even with loud construction tools and sawdust blowing everywhere.  Molly and I took puppy training classes bonded over my shoes - she ate one of each pair. 

We were so lucky to find Molly.  Twelve years and counting.