Welcome Ziva

Although we've been planning on getting one, we had no intentions of getting a puppy today. Our day began as most Sundays do. We headed to church and then came home quickly to change our clothes. We headed to a lacrosse tournament in a neighboring town. "Be on the lookout for "Free Puppies" signs!" I teased my son. We'd been doing this for weeks, hoping for a roadside sign to appear, directing us to a home where a litter of pups might be found. It'd been four months since we'd lost Charlie, our beloved sixteen year old collie-husky-retriever. We were all aching for a new dog. After a few hours of lacrosse, we headed home. "Maybe we should just go up to a house and ask if they have puppies for sale", my son suggested as we drove the familiar roads back. We all laughed. Then my husband directed us to a local Animal Refuge building. But it had closed a half hour earlier. Still, I took note of the hours and thought that maybe we'd return in a few days.

Then, on a whim, we drove into the parking lot of a local pet shop. I had never thought seriously of buying a puppy. I figured we'd find one at a shelter or hear of one available for adoption eventually. As we parked I said to the kids, "Maybe we'll get a lead on some puppies". I thought there might be some flyers inside, some notices of free puppies would perhaps be tacked to a bulletin board inside the store. We walked inside.

And there she was...an eight week old "Spanador". Half cocker spaniel, half black lab, this little pup quickly got our attention. The question was whether or not we would ask to see her out of her cage. For I knew, the moment we did that, we'd fall in love. My husband and I did a little whispering. Suddenly the idea of holding out hope for a shelter puppy to rescue did not seem to be the road we'd take. I looked over at my three children who each had big smiles on their faces. I saw the pleading look in their eyes and I started to get a little teary. Maybe this was how it was supposed to happen for us this time around. Maybe this was fate. "Could we see her?" I asked the sales lady.

As we all crowded into a little room to meet this little pup, we all began calling her "Ziva", one of the names on a short list of names we'd jotted down. We all agreed that she looked like a "Ziva", the name of one of our favorite characters from NCIS, one of our favorite television shows. "We're all agreeing on a name", I thought. "We all think this same little puppy is ours". All I needed to do now was to make it official. "We're in love", I told the pet store owner. "We'll take her".

It was an evening of laughter and of hearts melting. We watched her run outside and we played with her inside. She took her first nap on Emma's belly and later fell asleep on mine. She scampered around the house and then settled down in her crate after Emma comforted her. I am already anxious to come home from work tomorrow so I can see her sweet little face.

With our eldest child turning 20 in January, our middle child turning Sweet 16 in two weeks, and our little boy growing taller every day at age 11 1/2, this day of unexpected joy has been beautiful. The smiles, the giggles, the exclamations of love have been captured in the multitudes of photos taken tonight. Whoever said you can't buy happiness, surely was never thinking of buying a puppy! Yes, Ziva is ours. It was meant to be.