How do I explain the little piece of joy that came into my life when all hell was breaking loose? Before my father died, he thought it may be good for me to have a pet to go home to while in Denver.

He wanted me to have a sense of normalcy and not be alone. Everyone has a dog in Denver so I set out looking for a dog that needed to be saved.

I think adopting a dog is much like adopting a human. The pet adoption/placement services want your lease, your job information, 3 references and they ask you a zillion questions. You quickly realize this is way too difficult. So one weekend I decided to start looking up small, fun loving dogs to buy. Up pops a ton of different types, Jack Russels, pugs, snauzers, etc. And then I get linked to a page and there it is:

Corgi puppies....They are adorable and the website is much like Match.com, but more like puppy.com. You scroll and read about each puppy and their own personality. I find one and it grabs me, like “hey I am your dog you have been searching for me...Pick me!”

Kale, that is his name, born in May and just lovable. I call the number and the guy goes over all the information and pricing. I tell him to hold Kale for me and give me an hour to think about this.

I think about it, can I really do this? I finally think to myself, “Just do it!” So I call back and pull the trigger. “Do you take credit cards?” Bam! Kale is mine. They send me all the paperwork, I sign the contract and they say Kale will be in Denver July 25th . I am in love with this puppy.

Adyn arrives home from her weekend trip and I tell her I bought a puppy. She stares at me (blink-blink) “You did what?” I share with her the website with her, show her the puppy and we both know this is a good thing. Little did we know Kale would arrive in the middle of my dad passing away and that his first few weeks of life with us would be during the stress of Carl being diagnosed. At one point the vet who was providing shots etc. for Walter (formerly known as Kale) recommended I send Walter back, she thought it just may be too much for me. I recall leaving the vet’s office and telling Walter, “we need to find a new vet, not get rid of you!”

Walter, became the little piece of joy we would later realize was meant to save us. In those moments of craziness of dealing with so many decisions, he would be the one thing I could cuddle with and realize everything would be okay. And even in the moments leading up to Carl passing away, Walter was the only thing I would hear Carl talking to in the bedroom.

I may have purchased Walter, and somehow my dad knew I was going to need something in the darkest days but in all reality it was Walter who saved me.