And Last but not Least: Lily

I first noticed Lily on Petfinder during the winter of 2005. She was listed as a very frightened dog that must go into a home with only a female or at least a home with a female. Because I had to travel for work and would be gone for more than two weeks we decided to wait to adopt her. If she was still there when I got home we would go meet her. But we didn't think it was fair for her to come live with us only to have me leave soon after. Especially if she was terrified of men. So off I went to California. While on business I took some extra time off to be with my family. And I told everyone about Lily. My Aunt was in love with her. She thought she was just the cutest thing.


When I got back home I found out she had been adopted. I was sad but that just meant it wasn't meant to be. I told my Aunt that she was gone and my Aunt said that maybe she will be like Sophie and get returned. Of course browsing Petfinder is one of my favorite things so I would look every once in a while and part of me would wish to see her posted again. And every time I talked to my Aunt she would ask me if "That cute little girl puppy" ever showed up for adoption.


Well, one afternoon while looking at Petfinder there she was. As it turned out she escaped from her new mom the second day she had her. And disapeared into the woods of rural Wisconsin. They managed to spot her several weeks later, she was living in the wild with a pack of feral cats. So they convinced a farming family to try to live trap her. And they did. They said it took a big piece of roast to fianally catch her. Her new mom didn't want her back so Lily went back into the system. Only in the course of rahabilitating her she had bonded with another dog and became a pair adoption in the hopes that maybe with the two of them so close they woudn't run away without the other one. Well, we were willing to adopt one more dog but not two. So I just watched their posting and hoped that someone would adopt them. I told my Aunt about it but she agreed that two more dogs were a lot to take on. But they stayed available for adoption. Month after month. And then we saw a dog we really liked, another Sheltie mix like Sophie so we went to meet her. And she was a wonderful dog. And anyone would be happy to have her in their home. But I couldn't help feeling like the "right" dog was still out there and I knew who that was. So I called about Lily and Caleb. And talking to the foster mom, she told me that no one had called about them. And they were actually going to pull their profile for a while. So we went to meet them and the rest is history.


I even took Lily out to California with me to meet my Aunt. Who was thrilled to get to meet her. Just like me, my aunt had fallen in love with her. And she was so happy to have her at the house. And Lily was a little angel the whole time.
Lily is feisty, playful, and high spirited. One of the things that makes us laugh at her is that she snores. And her favorite places in the world to sleep are under the ottoman, and in the cat house. She has been a handful, as has Caleb, but we don't regret the decision.


Everyone wants to leave their mark on this world. Most do it by providing the world with the next generation. Some contribute great advances in Science. Some in literature, music, or art. Me, my mark is that I helped to make animals happy. And give them a safe and loving home. And that for me is very fulfilling. I don't think I will die wishing I had done more. Contributed more. Because I can proudly say that we adopted 8 animals (and I'm sure more to come over the years) that lived a happy life they may not have had if it wasn't' for us.