Our dog Linus
died in May of 2003. Jeanene and I brought
him home in 1987 when we had been married for two years. I thought there could
never be another dog as sweet and loving as dear Linus. It was hard when he died
with his shaggy head in my hand, but it was harder watching the quality of his
life diminish over the last years. Our youngest daughter never knew the Linus
that Jeanene and I remember.
It has taken me this long to even think about
another dog. To be honest, I still didn't want to get a dog, but Jeanene and the
girls have wanted one so badly for the last year or so. I finally decided that
they had waited long enough for me to get ready. Some things you do because you
want to. Some things you do because of the needs of others in your family.
We all agreed that we wanted to adopt a dog
from one of the animal shelters here in San Antonio. Our city has a real problem
with unwanted animals right now. We also knew that we wanted a small dog. At the
third shelter, I spotted a very small dog cowering in a cage. She licked my
finger when I put it through the wire, but she was obviously terrified. I called
the girls over, and all three fell in love with her. She's a rat terrier mix of
some kind, about the size of a chihuahua.
We named her Lucy, deciding to stick with the
Peanuts theme we started with Linus. Lucy is three and loves people. She was
obviously someone's dear little friend. She was terrified and had not been
eating. She cowered in our family room for three days, too weak even to walk. We
were beginning to wonder if we had brought home a problem animal, but then she
came alive. It was as if she realized that we meant her no harm and exploded in
joy and energy.
She is absolutely adorable. I had forgotten
what the precious innocence and trust of a dog is like. Now she is part of our
family.
Click For Larger Images
The girls were right. It was time, and Lucy
needed a family as much as we needed her. This is a dog who lives to snuggle and
fetch. She shakes all over with joy when one of us walks in the room.
So this is Lucy. She's our new friend and
family mascot.
If you have been reading Real Live Preacher
from the old days, you know that Hugh Elliott of
Standing Room Only and I are good friends. I know that Hugh loves
dogs, especially his own Polly, so I sent him a picture of Lucy. You can't
believe
what he did with it. What a creative guy!
Thanks Hugh!
Note: If you look on Hugh's postings the
days before he posted the Lucy picture, you can see his other pet renditions -
1
2
3 and his own
Polly.
rlp
