Barn Full of Love

This is a story I always love sharing. I was about 11 years old, crying in my Dad's bedroom, begging, and pleading for him to buy a new dog for our family. We had just lost our black lab, Julie, a week prior, and I was devastated. I didn't know how to live without a dog, and, well, quite frankly, I still don't. I had to convince my dad to get a new puppy. I think he knew we needed one too. Don't get me wrong, no dog could ever replace Julie. But, was it so wrong to want to fill that void?

With my 11-year-old charms, my dad gave in. We began looking online at breeders, shelters, Facebook, Craigslist, you name it. It was quite overwhelming, to say the least. I literally wanted every single dog I saw. I had secretly hoped for a golden retriever, as that was my dream dog, but I didn't say anything to my dad. Any dog we got I would have been so grateful for.

After weeks and weeks and going to shelters to look for the perfect dog for our family, we had no luck. It was hard. We were dealing with the loss of our old dog all while trying to replace her too soon. It just was, too soon. We needed some time to grieve. So, we halted the dog search and just grieved. Julie was such a big part of all our lives. There is no loss quite like the loss of a pet, let me tell you.

About 3 months had passed. Life went on as usual after the dog search stopped. But it was hard. I definitely wasn't used to not having an animal in the house. My dad was not either. I could tell he missed Julie waking him up at 5 a.m. every morning barking at the mailman. I brought up the subject of getting another dog again, and he was estatic. "I was just waiting until you were ready." he said. And I kid you not, not even a minute after he said that his phone started ringing. It was a former client of his, calling about free dogs. She said she remembered we were previously looking for a new dog, and her golden retriever unexpectedly had babies about a month ago. She wanted to give them away for free as soon as possible. It was such a weird feeling, and could not be more coincidental, but it felt very meant to be.

The next day we went to the address she gave us. We were ready to welcome a new family member in our household. It was a very sketchy part of town, someplace you did not want to be alone at night. My dad and I arrived at the house, and his client lead us to her backyard. The new puppies were living in a run-down barn. When we walked in, the barn reeked of marijuana and was so cold. This was in the middle of November, so it was freezing. All of the puppies had one blanket to keep them warm. There was no other source of heat. It was sad. The lady immediately walked out of the barn, as I'm pretty sure she knew these babies were not being very well taken care of.

I was in heaven. 5-week old retriever puppies surrounded my dad and me instantly. How could we ever choose just one? We played with the dogs for some time before we noticed one dog sitting quietly in the corner. She was sitting pretty, minding her business, and wanted nothing to do with her brothers and sisters. As I walked towards her, her tail started to wag and her eyes lit up. I picked her up and she nestled her head into my coat and fell asleep. No other dogs mattered anymore. I wanted her. And so did my dad. We were both so excited to give her a better home than where she was now. The rest is history. Her name is Lilly. She is probably the best dog I could've asked for and more.

That's the story of how we got Lilly. People are always shocked when I tell them about the phone call part. It was such a coincidence and very meant to be. She fit into our family perfectly.

Here she is!

#dogs #doglover #puppy

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