Scarlett was a magical dog. From the first moment I laid eyes on her, on a county animal control adoption website, I knew this dog was mine. I went to visit her in person on a day that I was meeting family at a theme park and was unable to adopt her – but I couldn’t wait any longer to meet her. I browsed the kennels, looking for the adorable black lab mix I’d seen online. I found her in a kennel with another dog, a young black pointy eared dog that was trying so hard to wrestle with her, but Scarlett had spotted me in the same instant I spotted her. We locked eyes and she never broke eye contact with me until I had to turn away to find someone to help me. I promised her in that moment that she was mine. Unfortunately, it took me longer than I told her it would.
Scarlett was sent to me, of this I have no doubt. Within 24 hours of our first meeting, one of my dogs at home had a medical emergency. The day I had expected to go pick up my new family member I instead spent at the emergency vet. That medical emergency revealed a far worse scenario – my beloved mastiff had aggressive cancer and my attention (and finances) immediately turned to doing what I could do to save or at least maintain his quality of life. In addition, Scarlett came down with a URI during this same week, and I was informed that she was no longer available for adoption. While my heart broke for her, I was relieved that the decision had been made for me. The timing wasn’t right for a new dog to join my family.
A couple of weeks later, while my mastiff was recovering from surgery, I received the call that Scarlett was once again available for adoption. Tearfully, I explained how my situation had changed and that I was no longer able to adopt the sweet older girl. However, to my surprise, a friend of mine adopted her for me. And she promised me that if for any reason, I truly couldn’t keep her, she would. She adopted her and kept her at their farm until we ensured that her health was good, she was housetrained, and until my mastiff had healed from his surgery. And then, finally, Scarlett came home.
From the start, Scarlett walked into my life as if she had always been there. There was no “adjustment”, there was no training, there was nothing to indicate that she hadn’t always been my front seat girl. She was my co-pilot. When Grady was having the seizures that resulted from his cancer and my fractious cur dog was terrified by it, Scarlett would get her toys and engage Hazel to play, distracting her from the situation. She was sweet and strong, and took charge of our household. Scarlett was a stickler for routine – there was no sitting around crying over the situation. Every day we got up and we ate our meals and we went for our walks, because that’s just what she made us do. Instead of letting me dissolve in my grief, she forced me to live and to fully experience those last 3 months we got to share with Grady. And when he eventually passed, she was there for me to cry on as much as she was there to keep her crazy “sister” in line. And after nine months, she was the first girl to greet our new mastiff and welcome him into the household.
There aren’t words to describe Scarlett. She was smart and she was strong and brave. I’ve never met a more self confident dog. She treated everyone as though they were a friend and she just knew (almost always correctly) that they would love her. She was my protector and I have no doubt that she would have laid down her life for me if the need arose. But she always reminded me as well, to trust, to put myself out there and to believe that I would be loved for being me and not to accept anything less. She was also such a fun dog. Her favorite time was when the other dogs would go outside when I got home from work and we would play hide and seek together in the house, just the two of us. My favorite time was watching her play “jungle hunter” in the bamboo in the back yard, when she would silently creep through the bushes as though she were on a jungle adventure. We only got to spend 4 years together, but we filled those years with tons of love and fun and adventure. It was very clear that she deeply loved her previous owner (and was loved by them, at least at one point). I always told her, “Scarlett, I’m so sorry that you had to lose your family to find me, but I’m so lucky that you found me.” I promised her that she would never again be abandoned and that she would be loved until the end of time. She’s been gone since August 2016. She left my life just as suddenly and unexpectedly as she entered it, on a day that started just like any other. And the space that she once filled in my home and my heart is still empty.
Peace and Love,
~*~ Michelle ~*~
