Nice to Meet You! 7/365

You may remember that in October, we brought home our newest rescue, Annie.  You can read her story here.  We felt fortunate to have at least some information about her when we adopted her, because with all of our other rescues, you never really get the whole story.  You always wonder what they have been through, and what it was like where they came from.  Since Annie's story was so unique, and she was one of so many taken that day, their story had hit the local paper.  The news article even mentions our sweet Annie by name.  So, from the article, I was able to gain a little more insight into the life of our Annie.  But the more I learned, the more my heart broke.  See, it wasn't just about some crazy animal hoarder like you would see on TV, it was about a woman who truly wanted to do the right thing, and a husband who loved her enough to allow it.  Then when she passed away from pancreatic cancer, there was a man left with what his wife had loved, and he was overwhelmed.  For him, there was a sense of relief when they came that day to take the animals away.  His burden was lifted.  His life could for the first time in years be normal.  He walked away with his favorite dog, the one pictured in his arms above.

After reading the article a few times, I just couldn't stop thinking about the man.  Was he okay?  Or did he wonder every night when he laid down what had happened to the animals that had consumed his time, his finances, and his life?  I also selfishly wanted to find him, so I could get those questions that you always want to know about your rescues answered....mainly, how old is she?  So, I began my search.  I found a phone number, and called it, only to find it disconnected.  So then Noelle and I decided maybe we should search facebook.  We did find three gentlemen on facebook with that name, so we tried to learn what we could from the limited profiles.  We decided that maybe we had found our guy.  So, I sent him a message asking if by any chance he had lived in Alabama with a bunch of dogs.  He messaged me back letting me know that he was indeed our man.  I was able to share with him that we had adopted sweet Annie, and that we adored her, and I was able to get my questions answered.  We sent him a Christmas package from Annie with a detailed account of what she had been through since that day, but how she had landed herself perfectly into our family.

So this morning Annie and Rags ran to the front door barking. I looked out my window to see who was here, and there was an unfamiliar man on my front porch.  I cracked the door just a little because after all, I am well protected with Annie and Rags.  He peered in and said, you have one of my dogs.  At that, I threw the door open and Annie jumped over barking at him like crazy.  But then he said, Oh Annie, and knelt down.  That is all it took, with one quick sniff, she knew exactly who he was.  She gave him some kisses and after a few minutes with him, she came right back to Noelle and I.  I wanted her to spend time with him while he was here, but he was overjoyed to see that she loved us, that she was choosing us.  We got to talk a bit about Annie's whole story, and we have all the pieces to her puzzle now.  I can only hope that he left here satisfied knowing that we love and adore one of the dogs that he admitted that he worried about.  He said there were six that he wondered about, so for us to reach out to him about one of those six has given him a glimmer of hope that the others too have landed into the same type of situations.  So, to our new friend....it was nice to meet you!!