Hello Dolly

“Greatness is the courage to overcome obstacles.”

~ Dr. David Hawkins

Say Hello to Dolly!

Dolly is the newest member of the Spiegel household.

She was my birthday present from my kids.

As you may remember it was a little over a year ago that we had to put Loki down.

We still had 2 dogs Mohgli and Bentley, so the incredible loss I felt without Loki was slightly mitigated.

Sadly, Bentley has been diagnosed with lymphoma and our time with him will be coming to an end in the not so distant future.

Mohgli has always had siblings and the general consensus in the house was that it would probably be best to bring in another dog while Bentley was still part of the community, with hopes that when the time comes ,Mohgli will have developed a relationship with this new comer.

For the last 2 months , the discussion has been around what kind of dog did we want.

Obviously we wanted a rescue.

After that, there were all sorts of considerations.

Male or female?

Big or bigger ?(we don't do small dogs around here!).

Older dog or puppy?

Long hair or short hair?

Notice, that there was never a discussion asking if I even wanted another dog.

That was something that I would not have a say in at all!

After weeks of images with the note"how about this one?", we had not come any closer to deciding and to be honest, I was not offering much input.

At dinner on my birthday , I was handed a card with a picture of Dolly that said

"Happy Birthday....we're going to meet her Thursday evening!".

The meeting was never about whether or not I wanted Dolly.

It was basically a meet and greet for the 2 dogs that already live at 159 Brookfield Ave.

We left to go meet Dolly at 6:45 and by 9 p.m. Dolly had moved in.

I found myself having a hard time getting excited whenever the discussion came up of getting another dog.

I wasn't against it.

In fact, I knew it was an inevitability.

Still, I was never enthusiastic at any point, including during the meet and greet and the subsequent ride home.

Why was this so?

I love dogs.

I love all dogs.

Why wouldn't I want another one?

On Friday as I was showing pictures of our new family member to some of my co-workers someone asked "are you excited".

It was then that I understood what was tempering my enthusiasm.

As I said, I love all dogs.

And Dolly, who is a really cute lovable pup, is no exception.

Loki was a beast!

Goliath , my first Berner,was a beast.

Samson was a beast.

Of the more than a dozen dogs that I have owned,the 3 dogs that I had the deepest connection to were not just dogs, they were beasts.

Samson,Loki and Goliath.

Even there names conjures up images of mythical beings ,biblical in their nature.

When I mentioned this ,one of my co-workers responded," that's why you identify with them".

OMG!

She was right.

I love dogs,all dogs.

These beasts that I have been gifted with in my lifetime were different.

My connection to them went way beyond that which I have with all of the others.

It's also a connection that comes with an enormous downside, the void that is left when they are no longer here.

I love this new pup.

She's sweet, affectionate,playful and adorable.

Everything you would want in a dog.

And thankfully, she's not a beast!

My heart just can't take that at this point.

Shabbat Shalom!