Although he is no 'God of Thunder' tomorrow marks a year since Thor has come to live with us. Ergo, it's his Birthday. I don't care what his stupid papers say. His new life began with us, so I say it's his Birthday.
To repeat the story of how he came to be with us would be, well, redundant. It's filed under my 'notes' on my facebook page.
Last week, I had an illustration, of sorts, of how far he has come.
If I let any of the dogs out together, they like to go visit the neighbors. The neighbors are cool about it, just calling to say 'they're here'! And I traipse out in jammies and slippers, hunt them down, and they come, right away to the car. On this particular morning, I hadn't had my coffee. I opened the door, thinking 'they'll be fine while I grab a cup a joe.' Grabbed the coffee, came back to the front door, and they were gone.
I grab my keys, and my coffee, and stomped out to get them. (Drinking my first cup of coffee while herding wayward Newfoundlands is not a good start to the day) As I get to the end of the driveway, one lone Newf stands alone. Sitting there. Not leaving the driveway. Looking quite pleased with himself. A look that said 'if only dad could see me now'! Sure enough, he was able to resist the peer pressure, and not be disobedient.
As he went back to the house, it was hard to imagine that mangy, stinky, infection filled dog that I had brought home. With windows open. I didn't even touch him without rubber gloves, that first time.
When we lost Thor, Abby had been gone for a little over a month, and it was an awful month. Maddy laid for hours in the driveway, with her head on the ground, waiting. Don wouldn't even come in the house when he came home, he went down back to visit her. We were all so sad.
By the time Thor came, we channeled all of our grief into nurturing him. He thrived. Quickly. It took a couple of months to get his digestive issues under control. We got him fixed. We fed him antibiotics like they were tic-tacs, and the dog I had to physically drag to get in the Jeep, will now fight all the others for shotgun. He is loving, he brings us joy on a daily basis, and is endlessly grateful.
There is no question in my mind who did the 'rescuing' here, and it wasn't me.
Happy Birthday, Thor.
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