She needed us.
For reasons unknown to us, the local animal shelter had become her place of residence.
It could have been because she was no longer affordable, so she was dropped off as the humane option.
Possibly, she ran away from home because she had overbearing owners and wanted more freedom.
It’s part of her story we will never know.
All we knew at the time was that she needed us.
The first time we saw her, we were hundreds of miles away from home.
Our family had just enjoyed a few days at the beach and was making the long drive home when an unnamed passenger (closest to me in age) began showing us pictures of one cute canine after another.
It’s likely that sleep deprivation was the leading cause of her decision, but that wasn’t taken into consideration by the other five passengers. We saw an opening and united to persuade Mommy that another dog was exactly what we needed.
Not just any dog, though.
We needed the yellow lab mix who communicated to us through her eyes, “I need you.”
It had been almost a year since we had put down our beloved yellow lab, Bailey (Pooter), and it just hadn’t been the same around our house.
Something had been missing, and when we saw this yellow lab mix, we found what had
been missing.
She needed us, but just as important, we needed her.
The rest of the trip home was spent reminding the kids of their responsibility to help take care of the dog and
deciding on a name.
The shelter was calling her “Tammy,” but that wasn’t a name that would fit in our fur family tree.
Our previous Labrador Retrievers all had names that began with the letter B.
I wanted the name “Baptist,” but it was voted down. The irony in that wasn’t lost on me.
The favored name was Birdie, so we now had a name for the face in the photo.
When we got back into town, we went straight to the veterinarian’s office, where she was being housed for the
shelter. We filled out the paperwork, paid the fee, and took Birdie home as the newest member of our family.
That was five years ago.
Today, we took her back to the same veterinarian’s office.
This time, it wasn’t to say hello but to say goodbye.
Last week, we found out she had a tumor in her stomach,which explained why she hadn’t been eating. We were told it wasn’t likely she would get any better, so we decided not to prolong the inevitable.
She needed us to make this decision.
Five years ago, we drove in a hurry to the veterinarian’s office.
Today, we drove slowly to the veterinarian’s office.
We filled out the paperwork, paid the fee, and then took
Birdie home to lay beside Bailey.
Once again, it’s not the same around our house.
Something is missing.
Birdie.
Forever I’ll be grateful.
She needed us.
© Travis L. Edwards
