Last September when we received Sunny’s ashes in a beautiful wooden box with flowers engraved on the top, we also received a sweet certificate with a poem as if written by her.  This was the final line: “Don’t hold the love that you have within yourself. Give it to another like me and then I will live forever.” Troy was ready to follow these instructions; I was not. Until a day in mid-February when without warning, I suddenly was. The timing wasn’t quite right, as our very anti-dog son was about to come home for an early spring break that coincided with his 19th birthday. Nonetheless, our Facebook feeds immediately became filled with ads for dog food, dog beds, and pet insurance due to our sudden obsession with the local dog shelters, Petfinder, and NWA Corgi social media pages.

And that’s how we found Otis, the five month old 13 pound tri-colored Pembroke Welsh Corgi who has taken over our lives! To quote one of our friends, he’s “deliberate premeditated cuteness.” He inspires high pitched squeals wherever he goes and loves all strangers. He has a British accent, his old brother Max’s passionate bark, and boundless play energy until he suddenly falls asleep. He’s scared of Troy’s guitar and gardening equipment and needs a running start to jump onto the couch. He eats voraciously, has very sharp teeth, and recently discovered Sunny’s private water fountain in our little backyard pond. He came to us crate trained, but sometimes Troy “accidentally” falls asleep with him in the bed. He loves a pillow top mattress!

Huck was not pleased with this decision, to put it lightly, but when he met this new family member he said, “I can see how if you like dogs you might think he was cute.” When our friend Shana asked how he felt about Otis, he answered, “Only negative things.” After the laughter subsided he added, “But I’m happy for my parents.”

So are we!

And of course … HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY TO HUCK!!!