One year ago, I woke up early (for a weekend, at least), dressed in green, and joined some friends for the Shamrock Shuffle. It was festive and fun, crazy costumes abounded, and there were libations awaiting thirsty shufflers at the end – a pretty cool event that I would usually be reveling in. But all I could think was PUPPYPUPPYPUPPY! Because that afternoon, we finally added a dog to our little family: Grover.
Grover hadn’t learned to wag his tail yet when we went to pick him up, so instead he wagged his whole rear end. We felt terrible separating him from his brother, Boomer (they’ve since been reunited) and in the car ride home, Grover sat next to me with one paw on my leg and stared at my face the whole time. He started mounting legendary dog pen breaks shortly thereafter, destroyed a couple pairs of shoes, found his voice (and now doesn’t hold back from using it), wags his tail with aplomb, and is a world class cuddler.
Looking back on the last year, Grover has added boundless love and laughter to our lives. We’ve made new friends because of him, explored our neighborhood differently (plenty of stops for sniffing and meeting new people), and relish all of his quirks (dance party laser light shows = extreme excitement). I also probably post way too many dog photos to Facebook, show cell phone snaps to almost-strangers, and get a little too dog focused on this blog…what can I say? I’ve fallen head over heels for our furry little Frenchie.
When you don’t have a dog for a while, you forget how much joy they bring – just having a little creature who is thrilled to see you every morning, exuberantly welcomes you when you come home at the end of the day, is always ready for a walk or a wrestle, and thinks the best place in the world is on your lap makes life a bit richer.
As you can see, Grover is celebrating his one year anniversary with us by taking an extra long nap in my favorite blankets. Later, we’ll go walking in the sunshine. It’s a dog’s life, and it’s pretty great.
