Our Christmas Puppy
IN THE MONTHS LEADING UP TO Christmas, my husband mentioned wanting a dog once. Just once. It was a moment of weakness, something he would later say never happened at all. But I definitely remember it.
We were in the kitchen, and a photo of our beloved white Labrador, Reggie, flashed on the computer screen. “I miss him,” Donald said, tears filling his eyes. “Reggie was the most loyal dog, such a friend.” Then my husband looked at me. “Maybe we should get another dog.”
Reggie was the puppy our kids had grown up with. We brought him home to Cottonwood, Arizona, when Kelsey was seven and Tyler was four, and a few Christmases later, he made the move with us to Vancouver, Washington. He was in the middle of all we did, all of life.
Year after year after year.
Reggie saw us through the birth of Austin in 1997, and the adoption of Sean, Josh and EJ from Haiti in 2001.
