The Torch has been passed

First there was Abby, a mixed breed dog with blonde/red fur. I fell in love with her, then I met her owner! I've always been a cat lover; I still am. However, Abby was able to bridge the gap between dog lover and cat lover and slowly convert me to a quasi-dog lover! She even got along with my 3 cats! When we said our final goodbyes to her, Abby was around 11 years old. I have never felt such an emptiness for an animal before. I guess when she left us, Abby took a piece of my heart with her. Even the cats seemed to mourn her passing. We knew that even if we got another dog, Abby's personality would never be repeated.

I figured that it would be a year or more before we would think about bringing home another dog. My husband surprised me 3 months later by anouncing that it was time to find a puppy. He had our local paper in his hand, opened to the classified ads. He sat down with the phone and started making a few calls. Later that day, he told me we had an appointment to look at some puppies.

When we arrived, the lady brought one of the pups out for us to look at. He showed no interest in us and quickly wandered off to explore the field next door. While my husband talked to the lady, I went over to the pen to look at the other puppies. I think all puppies are born with the ability to woo you with their eyes. I noticed one pup sitting alone, just inside the gate. She looked so sad, almost defeated. I asked to look at that one. When the lady put her in my arms I felt her tail wag as she licked my face. "This is our puppy" I thought to myself. I calmly walked over to my husband who was, by that time, looking at the other puppies. I put this little bundle in his arms and whispered, "Here's your puppy". I went and sat in the car; I wanted my husband to make the final decision. He came out about 10 minutes later, puppy included.

I think I chose about a dozen names before we agreed on one. I looked at baby naming websites, and even Indian and Latin language sites for translations to names like Companion, and Friend. I came up with lots of names, but nothing that suited our little bundle. I decided that we needed to give her a name that would mean something to both my husband and me.

It finally came to me while I was watching TV. I saw a film clip from one of my favorite "chick" movies. I almost cried ~ I had found the name and it was perfect! We named her "Shelby", which is the name of Julia Robert's character in Steel Magnolias. The name is also one of the body styles of the Ford Mustang. Now, when we tell people her name, the girls say "Steel Magnolias" and the guys say "Mustang"!

During the first few months, we tried to find similarities in Shelby's personality and Abby's. But Shelby has managed to develop her own personality ~ one that will never be repeated.

The torch has been passed.