The Best Gift, blog post
I had just recently had to make the difficult decision to put a beloved dog down for a cancer.
The feeling of loss, knowing that our beautiful pup, who'd shared six years of our lives, was gone. And missing her every day, seeing her in the shadows of every corner in the house, hearing her in the silence. The wound was still raw.
To top it off, our lives had turned in a direction where we were not home most summer weekends but away to a lakeside campground, where dogs were not allowed. So my husband logically pointed out that getting another dog didn't fit our lifestyle while we planned to continue enjoying this getaway.
The idea of having a home, silent and empty without a pet, made me very sad.
One day, Dan arrived at my work late afternoon, with a furry orange ball cradled in his hands. This unbearably soft little creature unfolded before my eyes, presented an adorable whiskered face with unblinking golden eyes looking deep into mine, and a ferocious little engine noise rolled out from its tiny little body as it stretched its front paws towards me and displayed its baby claws.
Dan, with a small allergy to cats and sworn to be furthest from a fan, had brought me a surprise kitten! And it was purring!
I was smitten. With the kitten, who we named Bailey, and with my husband Dan, who brought me a gift that he knew would help to heal my heart, fill the empty spot in our home and likely reward him with perpetually itchy eyes and the sniffles. It was probably the most selfless thing that anyone besides my parents had ever done for me, and one of the best gifts I've ever received to this day.
Bailey grew into quite a character, part cat, part dog. We enjoyed a great friendship. Fortunately for Dan too, his allergy was very mild and he and Bailey were able to co-exist for the rest of her natural and long life.
I had just recently had to make the difficult decision to put a beloved dog down for a cancer.
The feeling of loss, knowing that our beautiful pup, who'd shared six years of our lives, was gone. And missing her every day, seeing her in the shadows of every corner in the house, hearing her in the silence. The wound was still raw.
To top it off, our lives had turned in a direction where we were not home most summer weekends but away to a lakeside campground, where dogs were not allowed. So my husband logically pointed out that getting another dog didn't fit our lifestyle while we planned to continue enjoying this getaway.
The idea of having a home, silent and empty without a pet, made me very sad.
One day, Dan arrived at my work late afternoon, with a furry orange ball cradled in his hands. This unbearably soft little creature unfolded before my eyes, presented an adorable whiskered face with unblinking golden eyes looking deep into mine, and a ferocious little engine noise rolled out from its tiny little body as it stretched its front paws towards me and displayed its baby claws.
Dan, with a small allergy to cats and sworn to be furthest from a fan, had brought me a surprise kitten! And it was purring!
I was smitten. With the kitten, who we named Bailey, and with my husband Dan, who brought me a gift that he knew would help to heal my heart, fill the empty spot in our home and likely reward him with perpetually itchy eyes and the sniffles. It was probably the most selfless thing that anyone besides my parents had ever done for me, and one of the best gifts I've ever received to this day.
Bailey grew into quite a character, part cat, part dog. We enjoyed a great friendship. Fortunately for Dan too, his allergy was very mild and he and Bailey were able to co-exist for the rest of her natural and long life.
