Sammie

It took us less than a minute to give her a name. "How about Paisley?"

"No."

"How about Sweet Pea?"

"No!"

"How about Sam?"

"No" did not echo back to me. No protests. They liked it. And since nobody objected, it became official. Her name was Sammie.

Yesterday, I brought Sammie home to live with us. We had been discussing her for a while, actually. Not *her* per se, but getting a puppy in general. And we almost all went to Brentwood to pick out who was left of the litter, which was 2 females and 1 male and honestly, if they had all come with me, Sammie would not be in the house right now. It would be her brother. But it was time for a girl. I needed to welcome a girlfriend into the house.

I lost two special girls this summer, you see. My heart was just starting to heal from losing my little friend in June when I lost my sweet niece, Lauren, earlier this month. Heartbreaking, it was. Broken hearts do heal, thankfully. But I needed some happy RIGHT NOW. And her name is Sammie.


If Lauren was here, she would be celebrating her birthday today, all 13 years. I think of her and get teary-eyed and sad, because the worst thing I ever had to do was say goodbye to her two weeks ago, barely on the heels of having to say goodbye to Yvie in June.

But some good has come from their passing. Yes, some. It has brought our families closer together, made me appreciate what I have and to realize new true friends I never knew I had. We would have welcomed a new puppy into our home eventually, but I don't know if it would have been Sammie, or if it would have even been a girl, if the series of events would have brought us to here and now and what we have today and what we will wake up to tomorrow.

Welcome home, Sammie.