You can’t just replace a family member. Of course you can’t.
Even if that family member is “just” a dog, “just” a pet… they are part of the whole that is the collective us.
So just as anticipating a new baby doesn’t lessen the sting of missing our Nepali daughter, Babita, neither does our newest family member take away our hope that someday soon, our beloved chocolate lab, Remiel, will be eagerly chasing balls in our backyard for hours (literally hours) on end.
But oh, the added blessing of a new little ball of fur at our feet.
Cassiel came to us by way of some of the most generous people on earth– the kind of people who go out of their way to take their precious off-duty hours to hand-feed floundering runts until they start outpacing their litter mates. The kind of people who babysit puppies so their friends can grab a few hours of sleep in between hospital shifts. The kind of people who volunteer to load up five puppies and a healthy, wiggly human boy and drive hours over state lines to be a sort of delivery service just before bedtime for a passel of dog-starved children who can’t believe the awesomeness of it all.
The kind of people who gift puppies to on-the-rebound families who have heard, for countless nights on end, “And God, be with Babita, and with Rems, and help us see them soon.”
Good people.
Cassiel has, in a little over a week, made us laugh, made us run (ok, not me, personally), made us sigh with the cuteness of it all. He is sweeter than you can even imagine, with a super mellow personality that slides right in among teens who just want a furry ear to rub while reading, and an emerging playfulness that challenges bouncy littles to another round of tag in the backyard.
He is not Remiel– and that is good. He is fully himself, fully his own little being. Creating his own space, making his own mark, filling our hearts. He is Cassiel, our gift puppy. And we are smitten.
This makes me smile!!