The very beginning...
Back in October 2011, my dad and I visited the John Blue Festival, only to find a lovely surprise... puppies sitting near the front gate! Of course, we stopped. The Humane Society was hosting an adoption event at one of the busiest events of the year which we thought was an amazing idea for exposure and to find some cute little animals their forever homes - which is exactly what I did hehe.
Love at first sight...
I stopped by the fenced in area of adoptable dogs next to their booth and hopped in to play with the cuties. When I sat down, I distinctly remember a German Shepherd mix puppy and (maybe) a dachshund come over to play which ranked as the second highlight of my day. The first comes later, after I noticed a lonely, scared hound quivering in the corner, completely uninterested in me or the other dogs craving attention.
Patience is key...
So, naturally, being the no-personal-space-kid that I was, I crept over to her and simply sat next to her. After a few minutes of petting her head gently, I noticed her start leaning into my lovins, and almost no time had passed when she decided my lap would be her next resting spot. It was at that instant that I felt so much joy and love between us and I knew I could never leave her again.
The plot twisttt...
After walking away and crying my eyes out for the remainder of our trip to the festival (I knew how to work my charms), my dad decided we needed to go to wal mart for "a few things." Next thing I knew, we were in the dog section looking at food. Now, I should preface this by saying we already had a dog, Jagger (who is still with us as is 16 now by the way), so looking at dog food was just another day... until we walked over to the collars, which I KNEW we didn't need... unless...
Happily ever after...
Yup, that was the number one highlight of my day - when realization hit and we were on the way back to pick up Tessa, my sweet little Tess who stayed with us for 13 years and 11 months. She was the most playful, grateful, and silly dog I've ever known, and we all still miss her every single day. Somehow, I truly believe she understood that she was rescued from a much different life, and into a loving home that would care for and cherish her for her entire life.
You can have it too!
Moral of the story... go adopt, please!! You will absolutely never regret it and may end up with your very best, crazy pants friend in the whole wide world.
Yours truly,
Brooke Bathie