my guy


this is lucky. we're in love. lucky came into my life the day
before my husband died. i was on my way to the hospital with my dog"happy" and my daughter's dog "beau". it was also the day of my grandson's "kissening" ( as opposed to
"christening") which we were having on the beach at my cabin across the bay.
as i was driving to the hospital i spotted a little
white and black dog running with a 20ft chain dragging behind him.
i stopped and unhooked his chain and tossed it beside a telephone pole. the dog jumped in the car , very excited to see the other dogs. i was in a rush and decided to take him
with me and deal with finding his owner later.
i called the radio on my cell phone and had them make
an announcement. the owners called while i was driving home . i dropped him off enroute. it turned out that i had picked him up in front of his house (it is true, there is no such thing as a lost dog, it is just a dog on his way home!)
i mentioned to the owner that i was smitten with him and if they ever considered getting rid of him , i would be happy to have him.

it was only a few months later when my dog "happy " died. i was devastated. i had lost my husband , my mother , my mother-in- law and my dog all in a space of 12 months. it was too much . i was filled with grief. i think it all culminated with the loss of my dog.
a year later , almost to the day, "lucky " showed up at my door. it turned out his name was "lucky" and that was what i had called him when i first saw him. it was the day before my daughter's wedding. which was taking place at my cabin across the bay.
i opened the door and there he was. my little grandson and i walked him home. again i asked the owner if he would consider letting me keep him. he declined saying that his little boy would be heartbroken. as i turned to leave i noticed a cigarette but floating in lucky's water bowl. i felt sick.
after the wedding, my friend and i went to a week long buddhist retreat just outside of boston. it was to wind down and recharge my batteries after a stressfull year. when i arrived home , i saw a photo of a stray dog in the local paper. he looked just like "lucky". i called my friend who worked with the spca and asked her if it were possible that this was "lucky". she said it was. we tore off down to the animal shelter and sure enough it was! i paid the fee and brought lucky home. wow! it had been meant to be. as an aside my friend also fell in love with a dog at the shelter that day. she brought home "abigal".
lucky was home a day or so, when he managed to escape. my heart sank. i knew he would find his way back to his previous owners. i also knew if he did i would have to let him stay. that was his home afterall.
it wasn't an hour before a knock came to the door. here was lucky and his owner. this time it was the wife. she told me she wanted me to have the dog. she said he kept running away and they couldn't afford to pay the fine. she asked me one favour, that i not walk him past her house. she didn't want her son to know where lucky was. i told her i was happy to share lucky with her son. she said no.
lucky has been with me for 5 years. i tell everyone " i got lucky" and i did.
yesterday lucky got terribly ill. he had diarrhea and was vomiting copious amounts of a watery liquid. the carpet was covered from one end of the house to the other. it was vile. poor lucky.
i thought perhaps it was one of two things ( or both). he had eaten something on our walk on the beach at the cabin, and/or it was the tin of dog food i gave him. i had forgotten to bring his usual food and bought a tin at the store. "beau" had been with us and ate the same food. he didn't get sick.
about 3am this morning , i woke suddenly , with the horrible thought " lucky has parvo virus!" i got up, went online and looked it up. it sure sounded like it...........
"oh my god! i'm going to lose him".
i panicked . he wasn't in the bed . i couldn't hear him breathing. i checked under the bed. he was curled up in a ball, looking very forlorn.
as soon as i could this morning , i delivered him to the vet. she said to leave him as she would need to run tests. he was so anxious, seeing his sweet little face in the cage was more than i could bear.
i went home and waited. a couple of hours the clinic called . the test for parvo was negative. i felt such a sense of relief. i knew he would be okay. it had to be something he ate. i raced down to get him. i booked appointments for both he and 'beau' to have all their shots. i'm taking no chances!
maybe that was the good that came out of it. i had become complacent about his immunization. thank god, i didn't have to carry that guilt with me.
so lucky has had his meds. he's at my feet snoring. my heart is light. we will go for a little walk in awhile.
i got lucky again!