You know that meme?  The one where the cute dog is tucked into bed and asks to be told the story of his adoption/rescue again? I have to admit, we live that out at least weekly here.  No, the boys don’t actually ask for the story, but every so often as I’m tucking one or the other in, I lean over and whisper in his ear, The Story of Us.

With Julius I ask him if he remembers being a scruffy little puppy running the streets.  If he remembers “choosing” me and those first few days together. He’s my funny little man and he is Ray’s best dog friend and a good brother.

I ask Ray if he remembers that cold day in December when we “met.” His Sparkle Mama was having her babies outside in the cold and so many didn’t make it but as we rushed in and brought the little family to safety, two more piglets were born inside.

Ray was a little reluctant to depart the warmth of the womb and was eventually Katie pulled him out amid a slurry of green goo. You can see it on his little white fur above. “The little Green Guy” was the first name he ever had. I ask him if he remembers that.

I didn’t want a puppy and I didn’t want to adopt, I wanted to only foster adult dogs but seven years ago, not everyone in our house was ready for a Pitbull Type dog and I was outvoted. We adopted the green guy who we named Ray. I brought him home in the midst of a raging snowstorm, wrapped in my pashmina and curled in my lap. He was really quite literally one of the worst puppies ever and after about an hour with him the “adopt a puppy” faction abandoned me to raise the jumping shark alone. But that’s a story for another day.

The irony is that he was maybe always destined to live in my home. Quite literally.

Our house was for sale at that time and there was actually an offer on it. The woman and her adult daughter who were buying the house were waiting for funding approval that was dragging on way too long. Sparkle, Ray’s mama, belonged to the adult daughter who eventually reached out to me for help. A friend was keeping Sparkle and her brother but as the cold weather fast approached and puppies coming soon, they needed a rescue. When I asked her if she wanted to reclaim the dogs after the sale of the home, she declined saying she didn’t want the beautiful bamboo floors ruined and though puppy Ray had a field day with some other things, the bamboo held up.

On this day we celebrate the birth of my first-born dog, the day my life’s focus would shift. If he had been an easy dog like Julius, I would definitely be a lesser person. Ray forced me to grow and to learn.

My little green man. We are connected on such a level that Kevin jokes I must have given birth to him. It’s not too far from the truth, I suppose, I like to think I helped give Life to him and in return, he has shaped mine for the better.

Happy birthday to my Heart Dog, green guy Ray.