Gift + Curse

I brought her home on a crisp November morning. I had been staying with my grandmother in Indiana for a week and picked her up from the breeder on way back to Michigan.  I was really nervous, especially since I wasn't able to take more than 200.00 from the ATM. I wasn't sure if the breeder would let me take her home that day. I arrived and explained the situation and she said that was fine. I would Paypal her the rest of the money. I waited while her two little girls ran to the back to fetch her. They brought her out and I could see her tiny little body being carefully held by the 8 year old girl. Her mother explained a few things to me and then urged her daughter to hand the little puppy over to me. She gently placed all 2 pounds of her in my hands and my heart burst. I loved her so much in that one moment. She whimpered and wiggled. She was black and white and brindled. I held her to my face and gave her a little kiss. The two little girls watched intently. T...

I was walking home from my bus stop one winter afternoon and I had this very strange feeling that we were going to get a dog.  We lived in Navy housing where all the houses looked exactly the same. Large boxes split in two and shared by two families. If someone was arguing with someone you could hear it on the other side. If someone smoked in the house, you could smell it on the other side.  The street behind my house was on a large hill and the closer to the bottom of that hill, the more excited I became. Cutting through the side yard of our neighbor's house and into my backyard, my hear rate increased. I started to open the back door and before I could open more than a crack, I heard her say, "Close your eyes and hold out your arms." I did as I was told, kind of knowing what was coming. With my eyes closed, and arms open, a furry wiggly little thing was placed into my arms. My eyes opened to see a black ball of fur trying to escape me. I almost started ...