The Puppies: Where They Are Now

Exactly six months ago, we had a big snow storm in our corner of the world.

I remember that fact, not because I have such a keen mind for weather history, but because on that extraordinary day, our dog Willow gave birth to 10 puppies!  How could I ever forget THAT??  :)

In honor of the half-birthday of those dear little puppies, I want to take a moment to provide an update on where they are now.  Actually, what I really wanted to do in honor of this momentous occasion was drive around to all the homes where the puppies are and give them each a nice bone to chew on--and give cupcakes to the people living in those houses.  :)  But since that wasn't exactly practical, I settled for sending some messages to the puppies' owners, inquiring about any updates or recent pictures they might have and might want to share.  Quite a bit cheaper and less time-consuming than bones and cupcakes and gas for the van to drive to all those places.  ;-)

So here, in the order that we gave them away, is a little info about each puppy.

1. Oliver/Finn - 3rd born, named by Tobin - We gave him to Jane, a friend that I met because she has a son in the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir with Josiah.  She was interested in getting two puppies, but came on Sunday, March 13, to get one to start with; and she chose Oliver.  No big surprise that he was the first one taken.  His looks were so distinctive that he was a mighty popular fellow!  :)  She and her family renamed him Finn, and we had the GREAT joy of visiting them in May.

2. Koda - 6th born, named by me - We gave him to Jen, a friend whom we first met when she coached David's soccer team when he was five or six.  She and I kept in touch through Facebook; and when she started homeschooling her children, we connected more often.  Quite soon after the puppies were born, she contacted me and expressed her interest in getting a puppy (they already had a female dog named Fiona).  She and her husband and their two kids came on Sunday, March 13, to get Koda; they decided to keep his name, which made me happy, of course, because I chose it.  ;-)  Jen sends me pictures and updates about Koda fairly often which is great fun for me.  :)  We also got to visit Koda once since he left us!  :)

3. Redemptress/Chara - 5th born, named by Josiah - A day after she got Oliver, Jane came back to get Redemptress; and I was thrilled to think that two of the puppies would get to stay together.  I think maybe it's been a little like having twins - double trouble? - but hopefully double the joy (the meaning of the name "Chara").  :)  And the pictures Jane sends me of Finn and Chara cuddling together (and with their people) are beyond adorable.  :)

4. Sheva/Thor - 7th born, named by Jeff - Ellie is the daughter of a couple who went to church with my family when I was growing up, so I have known of her for a long time, but since she's younger than me, I didn't really know her before.  I was so glad when her mom contacted me and asked to come visit the puppies one week after they were born.  Ellie and her husband came, too (and several times after that as well); and when the puppies were ready, Ellie came again on Tuesday, March 15, to get Sheva whom they renamed Thor.  :)

Along with these pictures, Ellie wrote this:  "Thor is super smart (he can turn off lights!) and it gets him into a lot of trouble (he figured out how to break out of his crate and is so proud of himself!).  But he is too sweet to be mad at.  He loves to give high fives and play fetch and he has overcome his fear of baths.  He loves everyone he meets and plays well with all dogs."

5. Sofia/Sophie - 8th born, named by all of us, I guess (we thought she must surely be the last puppy Willow would have, so we were talking about the word for "end" in Hebrew which is "sof"...that became Sofia...and then Willow went on to have two more puppies to our great surprise so Sofia wasn't the end at all!) - Our friend Sarai told me that she had a friend, Daniel, who was thinking about getting a puppy; and I added his name to the list I made of prospective new owners.  When his turn actually came, I wasn't at all sure if he would still be interested or if he might have found a puppy somewhere else that he got instead of waiting for one of ours; but sure enough, he was still looking for a puppy.  I didn't know him at all so, truth be told, I was a little nervous about whether he would be "good enough" for our puppies!  ;-)  But I was reassured by a few things: first, when he showed up on Thursday, March 17, he had his dad with him and seemed genuinely interested in his dad's opinion about the dogs (any young man who is humble enough to seek his dad's wisdom quickly rises in my opinion of him!).  Second, I later found out that a lady I know also knew him because of her son wrestling with him, and she had good things to say about him.  And third, my friend to whom we gave Mystery happened to see Daniel out walking with Sofia not long after he got her, and she stopped and had a nice chat with him.  So all of that put my heart at ease.  :)  Daniel decided to make a slight change to her name, and she became Sophie.  :)

In these pictures, Sophie was hanging out with Scout, Sarai's dog.

6. Mystery/Remi - 4th born, named by David - I had known for quite a while that Kristy, a friend of mine from about 24 or so years ago, was interested in a puppy; and she really loved the classic brown puppy look of Mystery (and her look-alike Koda).  David was REALLY hoping that Kristy would get Mystery, and we were ecstatic when Kristy brought her family to visit on Thursday evening, March 17, and ended up choosing to take Mystery home with them!  :)  After much family discussion in their household (and even lots of suggestions from Kristy's Facebook friends), they decided to give their new puppy the name Remi.

7. Bolt/Chip - 2nd born, named by Shav - Maretta and I were friends in high school and had reconnected through Facebook, and she had watched the puppies grow up through the pictures and videos I posted.  Bolt was a crowd favorite (especially because of his funny habit of falling asleep in the dishes I used to give the puppies their food)  :), and Maretta and her family (she's a mom of three great boys) were the lucky ones that got him, coming on Friday, March 18, to pick him up...and he was lucky to get them!  :)  They named him Chip.

8. Jubilee/Emily - 9th born, named by me - Eight days after the puppies were born, a friend of ours from church, Dana, came by with a young boy, Skyler, that she and her husband are special mentors of; and although I think they enjoyed seeing all the puppies, Skyler was particularly drawn to Jubilee.  A few weeks later, Dana texted me because Skyler was asking about Jubilee; and I sent them some pictures of her.  Dana's name was on the list of prospective owners; but when I got to her, for a number of worthwhile reasons, she declined getting a puppy.  Time went by, however, and I continued down my list of people who were interested in a puppy; but no one chose Jubilee.  And then suddenly on Monday, March 28, Dana contacted me; and as it turned out, Skyler was going to be able to get a puppy, and wouldn't you know, Jubilee was still here!  It wasn't hard to see the hand of God working to reserve special little Jubilee for special little Skyler, and it brought tears to my eyes to see it all work out like that.  Skyler renamed her Emily.  :)

9 & 10. Princess/Coraline - 1st born, named by Moriah - and Judea/Paige - 10th born, named by Jeff - During the two months that we had the puppies, quite a few people had contacted me about possibly getting one; and I kept a very organized list and went down it, letting people choose as their name came up.  But eventually, we got to the end of my list; and at that point, one of Jeff's customers, Jerry, let us know about a friend of his, Dixie, who was looking for a puppy.  She and some of her family came to our house on Monday, March 28; and when she arrived, she ended up taking Princess for herself and Judea for her younger brother.  Princess got the new name Coraline, and Judea became Paige!  And just like that, the puppies were gone.

Gone, but not forgotten.  Never, ever, ever, ever forgotten.

Happy half-birthday, dear little puppies who aren't so little anymore!!!  :)

I Want to Talk about the Puppies

I really want to talk about the puppies.  I want to share the pictures and tell the story of the day Willow gave birth.  I want to go back and fill in the gaps and post the pictures I took (but never posted) as the puppies grew.  I want to record which puppy went to which family and share the pictures I took as we said goodbye to each one.  I want to do a follow-up post and write down the new names of the puppies and include pictures that the new owners have sent to me.  I want to do all of that!

But I can't.  I just can't.  Not yet anyway.

The reason is simple: those 10 little puppies, that I wasn't even sure I wanted, so endeared themselves to me that, now that they're gone, I miss them intensely.  

It's slightly ridiculous--no, make that more than slightly!  Part of the time I'm laughing at myself for how silly I'm being, and part of the time I'm fighting to hold back the tears (and not always succeeding).  Ridiculous, I tell you!

I thought my prevailing emotion, once all the puppies were gone, would be relief.  I had NO IDEA it would be grief.  

Don't misunderstand: I'm incredibly grateful for the GREAT homes the puppies went to (and it THRILLS me every time one of the new owners sends me pictures and updates), and of course there is no possible way we could have kept 10 puppies!  But my head knows that, and still my heart misses them.  Silly, silly heart.

I tried looking through some pictures tonight, and it was too much.  They grew up entirely too fast!  It's hard to believe that these little sweethearts, just learning how to get around when they were a couple of weeks old...

...so quickly grew into these strong, able puppies, exploring and bouncing around in our yard.

The last morning we had the puppies, I was standing in the kitchen watching them on the porch as I OFTEN did, and I happened to decide to take a little video of them.  I knew there was a possibility that one of them might be taken that day but never once imagined that all three would be gone in just a few hours.  When I said goodbye to them at the end of the video, I didn't know the real goodbye would be coming so soon.

I'm sure that after some time goes by, I'll be able to think about the puppies and look at their pictures without feeling such an ache; but until then, maybe I'll stick to lighter, more cheerful topics!

The Final Goodbye

The last of the puppies left yesterday...

...and today, the last (human) visitor--Aunt Joyce--went her way, carted off by some long-time friends of the family, Ken and Freda.

Tonight the house seems strangely empty.

I had thought to stay up late and begin the task of posting pictures and words from the past nine days of extra-special visitors and moments.  But I can't seem to make myself do it tonight.

Tonight is a time for feeling the weight of emptiness, for missing those who are no longer here.  And then time for resting and preparing to wake up tomorrow and switch gears.  It's time to figure out what normal looks like again!

The Puppies Venture Out

It was such a beautiful day today that, after we got home from our church service, Jeff opened the door and, for the first time, let the puppies tumble out into the big bright sunshine!  (An appropriate soundtrack would be "A Whole New World" from Disney's Aladdin.)  ;-) 

They romped and played--with Willow and with us.  Sweetie pies, all.  :)

 The picture below shows Willow with Jubilee and Oliver.  I was just snapping pictures quickly and didn't even pay attention to who was in what photo, but I'm glad to have this one because those two puppies have always reminded me the most of Willow.  Jubilee is the brown and white part of Willow, and Oliver is the black and white part (although he's showing more brown as he gets older).  :)

That's probably Koda under Jeff's chair; but unless I see the tip of the tail to see if it's white, I can't tell for certain if it's him or his big sister Mystery.

 Sheva checked out my feet...

 ...then forsook me to go over to Shav.  :)

I love this series of photos of David with "his" puppy Mystery.  :)

 I'm sorry, Sofia; I can't pick you up right now, although I know you would like me to!

 Tobin with "his" puppy Oliver.

 There is so much to see and smell and touch and taste in the great big world!

When we finally put the puppies back into their enclosure, they were so tuckered out that even when Tobin went in to be with them, they slept on.

 Dear tired little puppies.  :)

With more warm days in the forecast, we're looking forward to more chances to let them explore the great outdoors.  :)

Lessons of 2016 #2: Don't Stop on the Dissonant Notes

"Hey, Mom," my son David called to me today, "Could you come listen to this piano piece I'm playing?"  I complied, proud of him for going ahead and learning new pieces, even when I don't find the time to give him an official lesson for weeks or even months.  Despite my good intentions, piano lessons for my boys repeatedly fall to the bottom of my to-do list...and then fall off the list entirely!

David started playing the piece, then stopped in the middle.  "Is this right? It doesn't sound good," he said, playing a C with his left hand and a D and F with his right.

"Keep playing," I urged him.  "Those notes are dissonant; but if you go on to the very next set of notes, you'll hear them resolve."  And sure enough, he then played a C and E with his right hand, which sounded beautiful with the C in his left hand.

His mistake--that pause on dissonant notes to question whether they can possibly be right--is one that I very clearly remember making when I was a child, learning to play the piano.  I'm sure that 30 or so years ago, when I asked my mom the question of whether the notes were correct, she encouraged me to keep playing to hear the resolution, just like I did with David today; but instead, sometimes I would linger on the dissonance, camping on it to make sure I got it right, repeating the notes that sounded so sour in the ear rather than moving smoothly on to the sweet ones.  "Is this really right?  Surely I'm doing something wrong!" I must have wondered.

I walked away from the conversation with David, leaving a (hopefully!) smarter musician in my wake, and having my own thoughts stirred by what we had talked about.  Oh, not really about notes on the piano, but rather about experiences in life.

You see, just as a piano piece has moments of dissonance that challenge the ears and leave them longing for something more pleasant to come along, life has moments of dissonance that challenge our whole beings and leave us longing for something more pleasant, something easier, something that doesn't make us wonder, "Am I doing this right?  Because this feels really hard!"

I've had some moments like that recently.  It's not that anything very terrible has happened; and in so many ways, I am living the dream of how I wanted my life to be.  Compared with what many other people face, the dissonance in my life is NOTHING.

And yet, it feels hard.  And sometimes my face is probably just as wrinkled up in a grimace as dear little Benjamin's is in the photo below as he played with Sheva and Sofia today!  ;-)

The dissonance, so to speak, in my life comes from temporary things like three of my kids being sick with a stomach bug during the past few days, and Josiah's participation in a speech and debate tournament last week which added a number of challenges to our family's schedule, and the 10 (adorable, I might add) puppies we have in our house that require care from us until they're ready to move on to their permanent homes.

But what's more, there is still a fair amount of lingering dissonance that comes from the adjustment to having a new baby; having six children means having a lot of needs that arise and necessitate time and attention from me.  My overarching fatigue adds to the dissonance, no surprise there!

There's a clashing sound in my head from my tasks that rush past in a never-ending flood of items on my to-do list; the discouragement that beckons to me every single day is a harsh dissonance in my internal song.

Sometimes I chide myself; after all, I am supremely blessed and shouldn't complain about a thing!  I'm not dealing with a serious illness, neither am I watching one of my children suffer in that way.  I have a loving, supportive husband who is my favorite person in all the world (the dissonance comes from the fact that we find it hard to carve out plentiful time for just the two of us).  We have a pleasant home and all the material comforts we could ever need.  Our children are an amazing blessing...and the list goes on.  With so many good things in my life, why should I hear any dissonance?

And yet, I do.  We all do.  And that doesn't mean I don't feel humbled and grateful for all the blessings I've been given, because I certainly do!  But even still, from time to time (and truthfully, every day), I land on the dissonant notes and think, "Is this right? I think I did something wrong! Surely the song isn't supposed to sound like this!"

I was reminded today, by my son's question during his piano practice, that it's so important to refrain from stopping on the dissonant notes.  Of course I understand the need to, from time to time, pause to analyze what notes are being played to ensure that they truly are the correct notes.  But then the next time the piece is played, keep moving!  Trust that the notes that don't sound lovely are preparing the ear to fully appreciate the beauty that is coming.

And how do I apply this to my life?  Simply this: when the music of my life grates in my ear and makes me wonder if I'm messing everything up, don't pause for too long.  Keep moving.  Understand that one phase of life--in my case these days, an energy-demanding, caring-for-many-needs, constantly-fighting-against-being-overwhelmed, having-a-to-do-list-the-length-of-the-Nile phase of life--is just that: a phase!  When a morning comes along that challenges me so much that I think I'll surely notice more gray hair on my head the next time I get close to a mirror, remember that the afternoon is coming, and it may be so peaceful (nap time and quiet time help a lot with this!) that I'll find myself able to accomplish more tasks than I could have imagined in the interruption-laden morning.  When a period of sickness strikes, remember that wellness will return--and how joyful we will be then as we consciously appreciate our good health!  When a week or month shows up with a crazy busy schedule, remember that months of relaxation and free(r) time are up ahead.

Life won't always be this way.  The hardships I struggle against now will someday fade into the background; and yes, I realize that new hardships will come to replace them.  But new joys will come as well.  The dissonance will resolve.

For now, the key is this: don't stop on the dissonant notes!!  :)

For Lessons of 2016 #1, click here.