Grant's Lessons Part 6: All Dressed Up With Some Place to Go

The story of my life with my wife is infused with Grant stories.  But this story takes place before I was in the picture. Marybeth had a wonderful dog named Sparky that was her loyal companion and best friend for 20 years. In an effort to revitalize him as he got older, she started looking for another, younger dog.  She came across the picture of teddy bear-looking ball of oreo cookie blizzard fuzz named Granite.  She was immediately smitten with his picture and decided to go see him.

As Marybeth walked in, Grant immediately over and jumped into her lap.  He had found his person and was so excited to see her! It was like he was the old school TV orphan who put on his suit and bowtie to make a good impression when a set of parents came to choose a child.  There was one person already looking at G so Marybeth sadly left without him. I think the person who was showing the dogs from the shelter saw the look in G's eyes so they ran after Marybeth to convince her to take Grant home. It was time for Grant to go to his forever home. She decided to tak him and when they got to Marybeth's condo, he immediately ran to her bed and layed down. He knew he was home.

These lyrics from Switchfoot could have been his soundtrack that day:

    Now I know
    Yeah, this is home
    I've come too far
   And I won't go back
   this is home

Grant had a checkered past and needed someone kind, caring and compassionate like my wife.  He has pushed buttons in both of us but we still love him. But she never forgets that day when he was trying so hard to put his best foot, or paw, forward

There are many times in life when we do that very thing. We try so hard to put our best foot or paw forward, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But that shouldn't stop us from continually trying. Most of the time, our inhibitions and fear of what people will think create our prisons for us.  Maybe we should be more like Grant: forget our inhibitions and just go for it. I don't suggest actually jumping in someone's lap per se, but I think you get the picture.

Thanks G, for being such a big part of our lives and showing us how to live without inhibitions. We love you buddy!

Maizy's Lessons Part 7: Cheese and Bacon

Maizy doesn't like people who smell different than Marybeth, Grant and I coming into her house.  I mean really, really doesn't like it.  She has gotten better in the three years that we have had her but still she starts to bark and growl as soon as she smells someone different in the house.

We have worked with her enough so that she is getting a little more used to it....and little is the key word in that phrase.  When my parents came to visit over Memorial Day, we were worried about how Maizy would deal with the interlopers!

The first 3 days were difficult with much barking and growling. We were hoping that Maizy would wear herself out and calm down but that didn't happen until day 4.  When my parents came over that morning...something just broke.  Maizy just went into the second bedroom and hung out in her crate even when other new people came into the house later! Of course, Marybeth and I were thrilled so she got two of her favorite things in the world as treats for most of the day: cheese and bacon. (She is definitely her father's daughter!) She stayed there for most of the day only coming out of her crate to go out or come see me when I went to the master bedroom. While we hope that someday she will enjoy being around new people, this was a huge step. 

If you gave me cheese and bacon, I would probably do whatever you asked also.  I have friends who knew they could get me to help them move if they would buy lunch and dinner.  This got me thinking about what motivates us.  Whether it is time, food, money, etc., it doesn't change the fact that we, at times, have trouble doing the things that scare us. And if we do, maybe we will get cheese and bacon for doing it. Not literally of course but I think you know what I mean.  Getting to the point where we allow something to break in our lives comes with rewards, no matter how scary it is.

Thanks Maizy for showing me how to let something break in my life and I hope there is cheese and bacon waiting for me.