When my Daddy died on September 10th, he had no idea that his Rat Terrier (Sugar) was pregnant. He honestly thought she was getting fat. She is pretty young and he had put her up during her first heat to prevent puppies and then they were going to go to the doctor for the 'snip snip.' Dog breeding (or Mutt breeding) wasn't something he was interested in dealing with.
The weekend Daddy died, one of my nieces commented that Sugar sure was getting fat and that she looked pregnant. Considering the stress levels, I remember looking at her and thinking that it was a possibility, but it really wasn't a big deal in my mind at the time. Well, another week passed and it became quite obvious that puppies were on the way. Last week, Mama put her up in the pen to prevent her from wandering off to have her pups. Sunday, her eyes were all teary and she looked so sad and pitiful.
When my Mama arrived home Monday afternoon from work, after a bad day, after crying and feeling lonely, after calling me and venting about how she felt her life would never get better, and after missing my Daddy so greatly. Guess what she came home to? She came home to (what she thought) was 3 puppies. We have all been waiting in the wings and texts and phone calls were exchanged with much excitement and anticipation of the new arrivals. By Tuesday afternoon, she had discovered a 4th pup and by Wednesday the final head count ended at 5 (3 girls and 2 boys).
We went out yesterday to meet these little furry blessings. It is just hard to explain how much my family needed something like this right now. It doesn't bring Daddy back, It doesn't make that part easier to deal with, but it sure does bring a silly smile to our faces knowing that Daddy had no idea what was in store. God is smiling down on us even with something as small as a litter of pups!
They are so teensy and tiny, 3 spotted like Sugar, 2 are black. We aren't even sure who the Daddy is, but perhaps a beagle. We aren't sure and probably will never know what these little mutts are, but they are our little mutts! Now we are just praying that they stay strong and healthy!
And....I won't mention any names....none whatsoever...but there are 4 little kiddos that will have a little furry surprise in the backyard just around Thanksgiving time! It is a tip top secret and one that will be hard to keep, but worth keeping. The holidays will be rough in many ways, so this little extra smile from heaven will, at least, ease the sting a bit. My Daddy would be totally thrilled at the thought of my kids rolling around on the grass with their new furry buddy:-) I am too! Now....to come up with a name for a GIRL doggie that will keep the memory alive. We are leaning towards "Gigi" even though "Hunter (sounds kind of boyish), Peanut , and Sonner (joke!)" are all in the running. I suppose we have 6-8 weeks to decide!
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