Lizzie's Couch

Well, I didn’t post in September, and I like to try and post at least once a month, so to make up for it, I’m going to post Lizzie’s adoption story.  It’s not quite as hard on the heartstrings as Vito’s, and it’s been a bit longer so I might have to fudge some of the details, but I’ll try to make it as accurate as I can remember.

Do any of you know that song “Unanswered Prayers”?  This story is a little like that.

I want to say it was…December 2008.  My best buddy of a cat had just died of an intestinal blockage that was caught too late.   I was devastated.  Utterly devastated.  I know everyone says this, but he was the best cat ever and I loved him to pieces.  To distract myself, I started looking on Petfinder, not really to get another pet, but to just keep from thinking about Jacob,  you guys probably know what I mean.  So I looked, and fantasized about having a huge German Shepherd, because I’d always wanted one.  I didn’t want a purebred though, mostly because I have a soft spot for mutts.

After a couple of months I started feeling better, I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing my feelings.  It didn’t help that in January I lost my job…again.  (2008 had been a bad year…I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say it was bad enough I had to move 850 miles back in with my parents just to survive, then lost my cat shortly after.  Not fun.)  I now had a huge debt on my credit card from Jacob’s vet bills, and no income.  February I finally got a job working for Geek Squad but hey, it’s a paycheck right?  (PS, if you guys have computer problems, email me before going there, 9 times out of 10 I can probably save you $100’s.  ESPECIALLY if it’s a virus.)  Anyway, I digress.  In that time I had come across a beautiful male Malinois on Petfinder named Sequence.  It was love at first sight, I wanted him so badly!  I decided to go out to meet him over the weekend,  having negotiated with the parents to let me have a dog since I would be moving out soon anyway. (Little did I know ‘soon’ would be another year.)

That weekend I had taken my leopard gecko to a reptile expo, mostly just for fun, then called the rescue he was at to let them know I was on my way.  They informed me he had been adopted out that very day.  My heart broke.  The love of my life and I hadn’t even gotten to meet him!  Yes, I’ll admit it, I cried a little.  I was still emotional over my kitty, so sue me.  They told me they had another, similar dog there, named Lizzie, if I would like to come see her instead.  I agreed, though I was still heartbroken over missing out on Sequence.

I drove up there and they brought her out to meet me.  I’ll be honest, it wasn’t love at first sight.  Liz was cute, but I’d been so hoping for the other dog that I didn’t really put my heart into it when I met her that first time.  I sat with her for a little bit, then went home, still sad and disappointed.

March rolled around, and I could not get her out of my mind.   She just hung there in my subconscious, telling me I needed to go back and get her.  I suppose my heart knew what my head didn’t when I first saw her.  I called the rescue again and we met at a Petsmart for another visit.  This time, my mind unclouded by sadness, I realized just how phenomenal she really was.  I wanted her.  It wasn’t the ‘omg must have now!’ love I’d had when I’d seen Sequence…this was a deeper, soul-binding love.  We were meant for each other, there was no other way to describe it.  This wasn’t something I’d felt with my other pets before, where most of the time they were like my children, Lizzie was like a long lost sister.

I had to wait until May to get her.  My parents had to dog-proof the yard.  It was pretty agonizing, especially since the rescue was over an hour’s drive away and I couldn’t go out every day to see her.  The day I went out to bring her home though…that was a wonderful day.  We met halfway, at a great big parking lot so I could write the check and give it to them.

Lizzie just knew she was going home with me.  I didn’t even have to tell her to get into the car.  All I did was open the door and she hopped right in.  She got a brand new red collar and leash, and she’s worn red ever since.   The first thing I did was buy her a red camo bandanna, which we still have, and she loves.  Here’s a couple pics I took on my cell the day I brought her home.

She’s still gorgeous, and still my sister.  I have never had a dog who was so in tune with me, I talk, and she understands.  She doesn’t do any fancy tricks, but I can walk around outside with her without a leash, and completely trust her to stay within sight.  I love Vito too, he’s my baby, but Liz is my soul sister, I can’t call it anything else.  I know it sounds cheesy, but it is what it is.

Love you big girl.