It all started with walking pneumonia.
Rewind to two Sundays ago when I developed a weird, random, sharp pain in my left rib cage. My parents had (luckily) been hanging out at my house with Liv and I, as J had just left for a few day work conference. And my mom (luckily) is a nurse, so as my symptoms weirdly progressed as the day went on – especially having had none before the pain began – she hung out with me and ended up spending the night to make sure I was okay since Urgent Care office hours had closed. I started the next day with a doctor’s visit; one chest X-ray and two London Fogs later, we popped into the nearby pet store (where we found Milo last year!) to kill some time and get a puppy pickmeup before hearing results and eating lunch.
We found a 3.5-month-old, brother-sister Labradoodle duo who were sweet as can be, and we spontaneously decided to play with them in the puppy playroom. Mind you, neither one of us was in the market for a new furry family member, but with how sweet and inseparable the siblings seemed, we joked that we needed to adopt them both – one in each of our homes – so that they could grow up and play together forever. Mimi had grown up with dogs but I had never had one myself; but for anyone, it wasn’t hard to see how unique their personalities were for puppies especially. They were calm and sweet, not nipping, not barking or jumping…just wanted to snuggle and occasionally play, especially with each other. And they had those PUPPY EYES.
We put them back, joked with our husbands that we found our dogs, and then carried on.
Fast forward to the following weekend, and we met up with our dear friends for dinner and puppy playtime with our daughters. Turned out, the pups were still there – and on clearance, because they were the last of their litter.
While we still weren’t thinking much of anything, J clearly connected with the dog, too, and I think our wheels started turning. There was just SOMETHING THERE that neither one of us could deny, where we felt oddly connected to her. When we got home later and were talking, neither of us could shake the feeling that the girl especially was a part of our family.
Granted, I know that might sound CRAY CRAY to many – but that’s really the only way I can describe it. I am not a dog person – I’ve never had a dog, and I honestly don’t even LIKE most dogs. So this girl was NOT on a hunt for a dog, nor thinking “You know what my circus needs? More chaos.” HA.
But this one good girl felt like a Gwynn. We joked that we couldn’t get both and couldn’t bear to separate them, but IF one was left, maybe it was meant to be. The next day, I was shooting content with Mimi and J decided he wanted to go to the pet store to just play with the puppy by himself “just to see.” Another family was there at that time and wanted to look at the labradoodles, but since J was playing with Lucy, they apparently played with the brother.
Fast forward to that evening – I was thinking of cute brother/sister dog names just for fun. I come upstairs and say to J, “Would it be cute if they were named Linus and Lucy?” And he says…“Er, no lie, I was driving home from the place thinking her name should be Lucy.”
WELL IF THAT AIN’T FATE, YO.
The next day, I went myself to play with Lucy – we were both pretty sold on the mutual gut feelings that this dog was going to be ours. When I got there, only one labradoodle was left – I immediately got nervous unsure which one was adopted and ran to get a worker to see which one was left, secretly hoping it was Lucy (which helped solidify my own thought that I actually was down for this dog). Turns out, it was her. I played with her for over an hour before J came to join me, and at that point, we were pretty sold.
Now, “Erica’s Rule” comes into play when something feels fateful, especially when it’s a.) on sale, and b.) the last one. It’s a running joke with my friends and family that if/when you’re in that position, it’s “Erica’s Rule” that you’ve gotta GET IT. Because if you don’t, chances are, you’ll go home, regret it, go back and try for a second chance, but it’ll be too late and gone forever.
I never thought that rule would apply to a dog, but here we are. 😉
That evening, we brought Olivia again to play with her with the actual idea of adopting her in mind.
And the day after that, we brought her home.
We feel a bit crazy but are embracing puppyhood with open minds + hearts (and lots of grace). We’re stoked for the new adventure and ready for lots of laughs + mishaps ahead as we all figure out a new phase of a very fun, full life.
So, to the sweet clearance puppy who unepectedly stole our hearts: Welcome home, Lucy. 🙂
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller
