โI just brought home my first dog! I left my marriage three weeks ago with two suitcases and nowhere to go. Forty-one years old starting over in a studio apartment that smells like the previous tenant's cigarettes. My sister kept texting asking if I was okay and I kept lying saying yes because what else do you say when your whole life just collapsed.
Went to the shelter Tuesday not planning to adopt, just to volunteer and feel useful. There was this black lab mix in the corner kennel, skinny and shaking, pressing herself against the back wall. Shelter worker said she'd been there four months, too scared to let anyone near her. People wanted the friendly dogs, the ones that jump and wag. Nobody wanted the broken one.
I sat outside her kennel for an hour just talking to her. About my empty apartment, about how scared I was too, about starting over when you thought your life was already decided. She inched closer. By the end she was pressed against the chain link on her side and I had my fingers through on mine. The worker looked shocked.
Brought her home that afternoon. She hid under my bed for two days. Now she follows me everywhere, sleeps next to me, carries three tennis balls in her mouth at once like she's afraid they'll disappear. I named her Pepper. Been selling some of my old furniture and my ex's stuff he left behind on Tedooo app to afford her food and vet bills. Someone bought my wedding china yesterday and I used the money to get Pepper a proper bed and some toys from another seller's pet supply shop on Tedooo app.
My apartment is tiny and smells like dog now and I've never been happier. We're both scared and broken and figuring it out together. She needed someone to see past the shaking. I needed someone to come home to. Turns out we're exactly what each other needed.โ
Credit: Kelly Stephens
The glow up and recovery of this queen is something to be truly celebrated ๐๐พโค๏ธ๐๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝโค๏ธ๐๐พโค๏ธ๐๐พโค๏ธ๐๐พโค๏ธ๐๐พ