It's usually coffee, first, but now it's Dog. Miss Izzie always comes before myself. I remember when I first picked her up. She was nothing, but a fluffy, clumsy, ball of love. I anticipated that 7hr drive to get her, but I was also fearful of what I was doing. "What if she doesn't like me?" "What if I'm not ready to be a Fur-Mom?" "What if my selfishness to explore this world, leaves her lonely?" ...All of these questions flooded my mind. Most of us fear change, because it can be scary! But we don't grow if we don't change. And I knew I needed this change in my life.
Walking into the house, where my friend was keeping this unnamed fluff ball, I recall that moment in time when I walked down the steps and there she was. My life had instantly changed. She was officially mine to love and .... keep alive!? OMG! I may have been a 31-year-old at the time, but I felt like I couldn't even keep myself alive, let alone another breathing, living being! "FML," I uttered under my breath. I didn't know the first steps of taking care of a puppy. I was a fresh fur-mom in the making. But on that 7hr drive home, I couldn't tell you how many times I looked in the review mirror admiring her heart-warming face. She had me. From that moment on, I knew I would never be the same.
Miss Izzie became my everything. And I also became that psycho dog mom! We were inseparable. She became my sidekick, my hiking partner, my front seat passenger, my running partner, the little spoon to my big spoon. She came on every adventure with me, and the happiness was clear. I'd be smiling from ear-to-ear as we'd run the greenway and she'd be smiling as she looked up to me for permission to go swimming in the river. She's adorable like that. I can't count the times she pulled at my heart strings. But I do remember the day it broke.
It was May of 2017. I had driven Miss Izzie to a regular vet check up. She's always been the skittish kind, so her behaviors weren't always consistent. Referring back to the beginning of time when I picked her up, I never thought to ask myself the question, "what if she gets sick?" let alone, "what if she gets Lyme disease?" The vet, came in after preforming Miss Izzie's blood work, and nonchalantly said, "Everything came back normal, but she has Lyme Disease." I didn't know anything about Lyme Disease....all I knew is the word, disease, was not good. She was put on an antibiotic and the vet sent us home. I didn't leave right away. I sat in the car with Miss Izzie and cried as I snuzzled my head into her side. The vet had mentioned she probably got it from running with me in the woods, or perhaps swimming in the river, or even running with me on the Greenway. Not once did I wonder if maybe I had contracted Lyme too. But there we were. Parked out frobt of Animal Valley Hospital, trying to collect myself. Miss Izzie was just looking at me like I was psycho because she didn't know what was going on. So what did I do? I gave her all the treats she wanted. Whatever she wanted she got. I brought her home a new toy almost every week! I felt so bad.
Comments
Post a Comment