Happy Dog Day!

As a kid I feared dogs and loved cats. I lost count how many times I got in trouble (to be read: butt too tender to sit on) for hiding cats under my bed or feed them milk from my own bowl. Let’s not go there, but go back to dogs because as I grew older, dogs no longer scared me, and I totally swapped camps: dogs rock! 

I know people love their pets and think of them as family members, so no one would think of me as crazy when I say Bella, my pooch is my daughter, right? She has two birthdays: one when her mommy gave birth  to her–April 22, and one when she became mine–August 8, and we’ve been together ever since, 14 years to be exact. A white fur ball with black button nose and coffee-bean eyes, a goofy personality and stubbornness galore, that’s my Bella, queen of the house, owner of the backyard and our hearts.

I have so many stories about her from the time she was a puppy chewing all shoes left unattended, to playing hide-and-seek, to learning tricks only if rewarded with popcorn, to falling in the pool, to hating being groomed, to eating dirt and the list can go on, but I will stop here. For a while I feared I won’t remember all the things she’d done, worried that once her time was up, time will dust her memories as it does will all our lives. Luckily I found a solution and added her to the “characters list” in my novel A World Apart; for as long as there will be books Bella will live on, not only touching my heart but that of anyone reading my book.

I don’t think there is possible to love Bella more than I already do nor imagine a world without her, although I know her time with us will eventually come to an end. My biggest consolation is that I gave her a great life, took care of her, protected her, but above all: I loved her. Happy Dog Day, Bella!