God Gave My Mom a Dog for Christmas
About a week before Christmas, my mom prayed that God would send her the right dog. She had been threatening to get a puppy, much to the horror of her children who tried to talk her out of it. She’s 75 years old and in bad health. My dad is 80 years old and in even worse health. They don’t need a puppy.
We suggested they adopt an older dog. My mom was reluctant because she didn’t want to get attached to a dog and then have it die. She’s tired of the heartbreak of losing pets.
Her hope was that the right dog would just come along, and so she asked God to send her a dog. She joked with my dad afterward that God would probably send her an old, sick dog.
And then, on December 23, an old, sick beagle wandered onto my property. (See story linked below). I took her with me to my parents’ house on Christmas Eve because I didn’t know what else to do with her. She couldn’t be left in my cabin with the cats. She also couldn’t be left outside — she’s old, arthritic, and has tumors in her belly. She also seems to have a cataract in one eye. She doesn’t seem to hear very well. She has itchy skin, and her nails are so long that some of them curl.
My mom fell in love with her. I had been calling the dog Melissa just to have something to call her. My mom named her Dolly (after Dolly Parton, who is also old and just absolutely adorable).
Dolly is the perfect dog for my parents. She moves as slowly as they do — so we don’t have to worry that she’ll pull either of them down the stairs when they take her outside. Mostly, she sleeps. However, she did get up to a bit of mischief on Christmas night. My mom left a package of Hawaiian sweet rolls out on the table. Apparently, Dolly can climb if she’s really motivated. The next morning, the package was on the floor. A hole had been chewed in the plastic, and a sweet roll was missing. Crumbs were everywhere. I pointed out that my mom now had a reason to try out the new cordless vacuum cleaner she got for Christmas.
The remainder of Dolly’s life will be happy and warm and full of love. My mom is already planning a trip to Petco and a visit to the vet. From the looks of her, Dolly doesn’t seem to have received very good care throughout her life so far. That’s about to change.
Here’s the original story of how I found Dolly:
