Check out the dog in gratitude

Check out the dog in gratitude

Rescuing animals has always been a passion of mine. In 7th grade, at Sunday school, we had to pick a charity to donate our contributions to each week. I lobbied hard for the Memphis Humane Society and eventually won the day.  In law school, I would go to the humane society and walk the dogs. It was good for me and for the doggies.I’ve rescued a kitten, too. I found him in the bushes outside my house and eventually earned his trust with tuna. He now lives with my former neighbor.Anyway, let me tell you about Bear.When Dear Husband married me, he knew that we were going to get a dog. He had grown up pet-less (I think he might have had a fish at some point) and didn’t know how much joy a dog could bring to his life. But he agreed that I/we could get a dog.  The deal was that we could get a dog, but he got to name the dog.  I agreed. No problemo. “Bear” would be the name of the dog.We signed up to adopt at Golden Retriever Rescue of Atlanta. We filled out the application, we had a phone interview, we had a home check.  All good. On New Year’s Day, we traveled way out to the country to meet a dog they thought would be great for us.The dog they wanted us to meet was a male lab puppy. He was WILD. Crazed. Nutty. Totally freaked out my formerly pet-less husband.  No thank you, we said.We met another dog, a big black lab adult. He was sweet, but still, something told us he wasn’t “the one.”Then the foster parent brought out this gorgeous leggy blonde. She had a pink nose. She wagged her tail, she looked up at him lovingly, and she did what he said. She was beautiful and sweet. I met her and she was ours. I just knew it.And here’s the crazy part: the foster parent had given her the name “Reba.”If you rearrange the letters, you get “Bear.”