warning...the following entry is very long and sappy
Several years ago, Gerald and I were living in Thibodaux and I was working a full time job at a group home, finishing my last year of grad. school, and volunteering at a mental health agency as part of my college externship. At the mental health agency, I befriended a security guard, who happened to be a dog breeder of my favorite dog of all time, Siberian Huskies. I was almost finished with my externship, and Gerald and I had just found a great rent house with a fenced in back yard, when the security guard made me an offer I couldn't pass up: a free Siberian husky puppy. I was in heaven. Gerald and I picked the runt of the litter, a black and white mix with crystal blue eyes. Because the movie Gia was in heavy rotation on HBO, and I was slightly obsessed with the movie and Angelina Jolie, I named my new baby puppy Gia.
I had never owned a dog before, one that was entirely mine and not some stray that decided to adopt us (like what happened so often when I was growing up). I loved that dog. We raised her from a puppy, and when we moved back down the bayou a year and a half later to live in Gerald's mom's cabana, we brought her with us. That's when the problems arose. Gerald's mom had no fence, so we bought her the biggest kennel we could get. Huskies love to run and they run very fast, but are not skilled at finding their way home. So I was always afraid to let her run loose, besides the laws against it. So she went from having the run of a fairly large back yard to having her only exercise being walked by us. However, with our schedules we rarely had time to walk her, little less train her to stay near the house. She was also very stubborn and hard to train, and we didn't have the time to put into training her properly. Then, Gerald and she did not get along at all, so he refused to walk her. So basically, she was either in her kennel or on a chain in the back yard, unless I had time to walk her.
Then I got pregnant, and we were getting ready to move into my grandfather's house that my dad inherited, which once again had a big yard but no enclosed fence. We were just looking into the expense of enclosing the existing fence on the house when I found out I was having twins and was told by my doctor that my days of being dragged down the road by Gia when taking our walks was going to have to stop. And then Gerald convinced me that the best thing would be for us to find her a better home.
My heart was broken, but I knew it would be the best thing for her. Brook's sister and her husband took Gia for a little while, and then a guy who used to go to their house (for some reason or other) and used to admire Gia said he was moving and wanted to take Gia with him. I was asked (which was nice) and agreed, and away she went with someone I didn't know and had no way of contacting. At the time we were just about to have the boys, and my attention was elsewhere. But I knew that if this guy asked for her, be must like her and would probably give her a good home.
So today, Gerald comes home from work and tells me to come see what he found on myspace when searching people from down the bayou who had a myspace: a picture of this guy (who Gerald happens to have gone to school with and knows to be a good person) and Gia! She looks great, and it appears that her new owner really loves her. He's got a picture of her on his myspace, I mean, come on! In it he's scratching her under her chin (which she loves) and they look like they are out in an open field with trees in the background. She's wearing a harness, which means she still can't be trusted to run free and is probably still popping leashes. And he kept her name, which makes me think that when she hears it she might still think of me. I cried like a baby when I saw the picture, and have cried several times again tonight talking about it.
I'm a big softy.
I had never owned a dog before, one that was entirely mine and not some stray that decided to adopt us (like what happened so often when I was growing up). I loved that dog. We raised her from a puppy, and when we moved back down the bayou a year and a half later to live in Gerald's mom's cabana, we brought her with us. That's when the problems arose. Gerald's mom had no fence, so we bought her the biggest kennel we could get. Huskies love to run and they run very fast, but are not skilled at finding their way home. So I was always afraid to let her run loose, besides the laws against it. So she went from having the run of a fairly large back yard to having her only exercise being walked by us. However, with our schedules we rarely had time to walk her, little less train her to stay near the house. She was also very stubborn and hard to train, and we didn't have the time to put into training her properly. Then, Gerald and she did not get along at all, so he refused to walk her. So basically, she was either in her kennel or on a chain in the back yard, unless I had time to walk her.
Then I got pregnant, and we were getting ready to move into my grandfather's house that my dad inherited, which once again had a big yard but no enclosed fence. We were just looking into the expense of enclosing the existing fence on the house when I found out I was having twins and was told by my doctor that my days of being dragged down the road by Gia when taking our walks was going to have to stop. And then Gerald convinced me that the best thing would be for us to find her a better home.
My heart was broken, but I knew it would be the best thing for her. Brook's sister and her husband took Gia for a little while, and then a guy who used to go to their house (for some reason or other) and used to admire Gia said he was moving and wanted to take Gia with him. I was asked (which was nice) and agreed, and away she went with someone I didn't know and had no way of contacting. At the time we were just about to have the boys, and my attention was elsewhere. But I knew that if this guy asked for her, be must like her and would probably give her a good home.
So today, Gerald comes home from work and tells me to come see what he found on myspace when searching people from down the bayou who had a myspace: a picture of this guy (who Gerald happens to have gone to school with and knows to be a good person) and Gia! She looks great, and it appears that her new owner really loves her. He's got a picture of her on his myspace, I mean, come on! In it he's scratching her under her chin (which she loves) and they look like they are out in an open field with trees in the background. She's wearing a harness, which means she still can't be trusted to run free and is probably still popping leashes. And he kept her name, which makes me think that when she hears it she might still think of me. I cried like a baby when I saw the picture, and have cried several times again tonight talking about it.
I'm a big softy.