The Joy of Dogs

     I cannot say I have always been a dog person, not in the true definition of the word.  When I was growing up, we always had dogs...but I never truly bonded with one of them.  Now though, in my 34th year of life, I can honestly say I am a dog person who is married to a life long dog person and that fact has led to a great deal of happiness and joy that we may not have had otherwise.
  Let me explain a bit further...
In April of 2002, we went through one of the most difficult periods of our lives with the loss of our daughter Anna.  I still don't like talking about it, the subject still makes me uncomfortable to talk about and I still cannot manage to even go to the cemetery and see her grave, its just too hard.  I think that day I decided I would not have children, after going through that, I knew that I could not even attempt to go through it again and I don't want anyone in my family to have to go through it either.  I still cry about it, I still see little things that remind me of her and it just tears that hole in my heart open again and thus, we are childless.
   In all honestly, we have 7 children.  Six dogs and a cat.... its a menagerie and the cause of a great deal of chaos and I love every bit of it.  
Percy, Rosey, Molly, Lilly, Poppy, Lizzie, and Mr. Mew (His name is Teddy but adam calls him Mr. Mew and so his name is Mr. Mew) are our children and they are stressful but amazing.  So it breaks down to a miniature schnauzer, four muts, and a big eyed boxer puppy we recently adopted.  Each dog and cat have their own distinct personality and they also fill our hearts with a love and purpose.  I feel so honored to have these guys in my life and for all the times they frustrate me when they eat something they shouldnt.... break something in some sort of zoom through the house or have an accident on the floor five seconds after coming back in the house.... there are more times when their unconditional love is just what I need after a really stressful day.  I cannot truly describe how much therapy having pets gives someone...but I really believe if not for them, I would be in a much darker place.
   In May, after a lovely trip to London, Adam and I adopted Lizzie (her real name is Elizabeth I... I love my history).  She is a AKC registered Boxer and shes giant and full of life and love.  Her arrival couldn't have come at a more perfect time for me.  I graduated college in May and for some reason that biological clock started ticking.... and those "What ifs" popped up and were really doing a number on my mind.  In all honesty, I do not want children.  Along with the stress of our previous experiences...I also have pretty crappy health with an auto-immune disease that wreaks havoc on my joints and body and medication that is caustic to say the least...its just an unhealthy idea and after some soul searching I realized that while I had a short longing for the idea of motherhood...if I really wanted to be honest with myself and consider other people involved as well...its just not something I need/want to do.  And then somehow.... we got Lizze.  She could make the worst day wonderful.  She is playful, she is loving and animated...its just a joy to be around her and all she has to do is run up to you, put her paw on your leg and stare at you with those big brown eyes and your insides just melt.
She is truly a blessing.  We love taking her outside, we love playing with her.  We even love it when she surprises you in the morning by dragging the toilet paper through the house because you were the fool who left the bathroom door open (happened this morning btw).  Lizzie has this special ability to just make everything OK and that is the joy of dogs.  They love you, they want you to be happy and they are there to love you when the rest of the world doesn't and I need that.  
Dogs make all the bad go away, even if its for a short time...and that is a wonderfully amazing gift.