Wednesday, June 25, 2014

A New Neighbor

Our next door neighbors have 3 children. All boys. Well, now they also have a new puppy! It was an odd and bittersweet day. We had not seen our neighbors for almost a week after we lost Benny. The first time we saw them they were all excited and beaming. The mom bubbly bounced over to share that they had a new family member! If I am being honest it, at first it kind of made me sick inside. I know, it was just the anger part of grief speaking. I was mad that I did not have all the members of my family at that moment. I secretly thought, "Oh, good for you. You get a dog. Well, I just lost one! Harumph."

And, if I continue to be honest, that ugly thought was very short lived. I flashed to how excited I was bringing home the boys. And immediately I could not harbor a grudge for her excitement. I just missed Ben. I didn't have ill will for my neighbor, her children and certainly not for their new found joy. Lucky. Yep. Lucky. That's the new pup's name. It seemed very fitting to me at the time. They were indeed Lucky (and we were not). That was the last time the ugliness stirred though.

So, out of their truck little Lucky bounced. He was so tiny, I thought. He looks like a hound dog maybe. (Flash to Elvis's, "You Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog"---now continue to carry that tune throughout the day. You're welcome! HAHA!) Anyway, Lucky was small. He was no pug. He has a snout! And a long straight tail! Crazy! Lucky is bouncing around in the grass between our homes. Since at first he was on Henry's blind side, Henry didn't even notice him. And Luna for sure was oblivious as she was practically falling asleep in the shade. Lucky leaped within Henry's field of vision and Henry was like, "Whoa! Where did you come from?!" And if I am not mistaken, I believe that Henry would have fully asked, if he could speak, of course, "Where did you come from, SQUIRREL?!" Lucky is marginally bigger than a squirrel right now and I truly do not think Henry thinks that Lucky is a dog. When Henry finally processed that there was a rambunctious little creature curious about him he perked up just a bit.

When Henry actually took a little more notice, Lucky took cover in nearby shrubs. He got a little more comfortable though and slithered out of the bushes and crept up on Hank. (Kind of easy now....blindside, you know.) Little Lucky then got in play stance! Oh! A daring little guy he was. If Henry could laugh, he would have. He would have let out a hearty chuckle. You could almost see him ask Lucky, "Little dude, really? First, I just lost my main man, Ben. Second, I'm 12. Don't you know what that feels like? And last, you are like 3 pounds and I am, well, let's say almost 10 times that. But if you feel like you can take me on little man, let's do it." Henry did not go into play stance. However, he did make a slight move as though he was considering. But what this small maneuver did was make Lucky think Henry was going into play stance. And that was all it took for Lucky to bolt. That's 2 for flinching, Lucky! (Now, undo Elvis song, insert line from Stand By Me movie.)

So, it was quite the little introduction. It perked up Henry's day a little and helped the humans to start to come to grips with the fact that there are other pups in the 'hood. We have to remember to love them all no matter if we've lost our own or not. Here's to puppy love. (Oy! Now, insert Donny Osmond song! I'm so sorry! I don't know what's going on today!)