The day I met Ruby

Early on when Bryan and I were dating, I told him my commitment dealbreaker. I didn’t care how much money he earned or if his job had status. But there was one thing on which I wouldn’t bend: dogs. I had to know if he really loved dogs, and wanted them in the future, when our lives were stable. If not, as much as I liked him, it was best we both move on.

 Fortunately, Bryan indeed does love dogs. We got married and lived like misers in a small apartment, saving to buy a house. Because having a place of our own meant we could finally have a dog.

Fast-forward a couple of years, and a modest house was finally ours. Before we finished unpacking, the dog search began. For a couple of days in a row, I visited local shelters. We would have fallen in love with any dog there, but I had a sense that I would just know when I met the one we were supposed to be with.

On a Saturday morning, days after moving in, I woke Bryan up and told him I WOULD BURST if we didn’t adopt a dog that day.

We made the drive down to a suburban shelter and each headed in a different direction when we reached the kennels. I walked by the first kennel, the second… and when I approached the fifth kennel, there she was. A beautiful overweight mixed-breed senior dog with separation anxiety. She was forlorn lying in her kennel, and it seemed as if all the life had been sucked out of her and she had given up.

I called to her, hoping she’d hear me over all of the barking dogs. Her eyes met mine, seemingly asking if it was worth the effort to walk up to me, wondering if I would even want her.

Slowly, she approached me, her head melting into my hand. In that moment, I knew with every ounce of my being that she and I were meant to be together. I was not leaving without her.

Not wanting to leave her, I called over to Bryan, but he couldn’t hear me over all the barking. Finally, he saw me and walked over to see who I had met. I wanted the shelter staff to know we were making a responsible decision, so we asked to take her for a walk, wanting to demonstrate the thought we were putting into adopting her. But I already knew there was nothing that would prevent us from wanting to take her home. I loved her already, and wanted to give her a good life.

The walk was magical, and we sat for a moment on a bench – our first moments together as a family.

We went inside and filled out an application. Our hearts ached when they walked her back to the kennels while they talked with us. I didn’t want her to think we didn’t want her.

They talked to us about separation anxiety and handed us a brochure. They asked us the circumstances in which we would return her. I couldn’t think of a single scenario.

We paid a $75 fee, and a shelter worker went back to retrieve her. When she walked out of the kennels and saw us, we could see she understood – she was going home. Her entire body lit up with joy, and we hurried to the car.

 Like a little kid, I insisted on riding in the back seat with her while Bryan drove. As we headed out of the parking lot, Bryan looked back at her and smiled. “You’re just the best dog, aren’t you?” Ruby let out a glorious, beautiful, joyful howl, confirming he was right. And off we set on the road ahead, ready to start our new life together. A dream come true for all of us.