A Dog's Tale

After we returned home from our annual ski trip in 2012, Mike and I received some terrible news.  His Mother Margaret had pancreatic cancer and it wasn’t operable.  We knew she only had a short time to live.  During that time, Mike flew back and forth to Tennessee many times and spent some valuable days with his parents.  The flowers were amazing that time of year and Margaret was enjoying her last beautiful days with us on this amazing place.  In less than two months, Mike said goodbye to his mother for the last time on this earth.  His heart was broken and I could tell he had changed.

A week or so later we are going out to pick bluebonnet pods on the other side of the runway just across from our back yard.  This is normal for us because the Mike had learned to love nature and plants from his precious Mother.  We are walking and looking for the pods in high grass when this gray old looking dog starts to follow us.  I reach down to pull some sticks from his fur and Mike says, don’t pet that dog.  But like normal I didn’t listen and started to pull the sticks from his tail.  Mike looks at me and shakes his head.  Then goes back to picking bluebonnet pods.  He says something about the dog being old.  About that time the dog opened his mouth to show his perfectly white and young teeth.  I was so excited as I proclaimed this is a young dog.  He just looks old because of the gray hair. 

We keep picking seeds and start walking towards our house.  The dog follows us like he has already found a good home.  Mike said, we are not keeping that dog, and tell the dog that he is barking up the wrong tree.  I just kind of figured this situation would work itself out like it always does.  We are no stranger to saving or adopting an animal that needs help or a home.  For a few days we let him stay in the garage with a towel and some cat food.  The door was partially raised so he was welcome to leave if he had the urge.  We called around and posted to try to find his owners.  In case we didn’t find the owners, I knew he would not be adopted looking like this, so I called my vet Dr. Meg and brought him in to be groomed and get a check up.

Several hundreds dollars later (and a remarkably smaller looking dog), I come home with good news.  Mike, the groomer lady wants the dog.  His reaction shocked me.  He said, “you need to take the picture down from facebook.  I called the fence guy and we are keeping the dog.”  I was like hand pumping inside but also trying to figure out what was going on.  I know this man, we have been married for a while and this is not a typical response to adopting a dog.  His arguments for not having a dog were:  they want in and out all of the time and you have to walk them.  It is too hard to travel with a dog and you are gone for three days at a time and I will have to take care of your dog.  We also had three cats to introduce to the dog, and that could go terribly wrong.

We named him Gandalf because he was gray like the wizard from the Lord of the Rings.  As it turned out Gandalf was the perfect dog.  He doesn’t eat much and is very polite around people and other animals for the most part.  He loves children and he loves and protects his kitties too.  The integration process wasn’t flawless but as good as you would expect with a dog off the street.  There were whispers that maybe Margaret sent this dog to us.  She was always trying to tell us we needed a dog.  We had Sam our orange cat then the others kitties showed up but we had never adopted a dog as a couple.

In a few weeks Mike’s Dad Chuck came to visit.  I think it was mostly because he was lonely, but I think he also wanted to see this dog in real life.  We talked about him and might have even told him about the idea that was floating around about Margaret sending this dog.  He came and Gandalf slept with him that first night.  That was early on in the integration process and was the first time Gandalf got to sleep in the house.  Then every night afterwards Gandalf and Chuck would head off to sleep together.  That ended about a week later when Chuck had a stroke, he went to the hospital and would never come home.  In the hospital, I would show him pictures of Gandalf and he would try to pet the picture.  He instantly loved that dog.  A few days later he went to heaven to be with Margaret.  Now Mike was just overloaded with grief.  He has lost both parents in a matter of months.  His heart was broken. 

With all of this sadness there was this unexpected bright spot in our lives.  This funny looking gray dog with one brown eye and one blue eye.  He was the perfect dog.  He spent everyday trying to show us that he was a great dog and we were the parents that he had always wanted.  Mike bought him toys and bones and showed him some serious love.  The distraction to our sorrow was undeniable.  My friend Casey who has known some serious sorrow made sure to tell us that Margaret made a deal with God to send us Gandalf.  She was probably happy that Chuck would be going home soon but knew that it would break Mike’s heart.  So the deal was made to send us the perfect dog.  She said the  blue eye is to remind Mike of his Dad Chuck who had blue eyes.  The brown eye was from Margaret who has brown eyes to remind Mike that she sent the dog and loved him very much.