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My youngest daughter, Kelsey, who is now a senior in college, has always been very determined and persistent. She also loves animals.  When she turned eleven, she started asking me if we could get a puppy.  We had two cats at the time and I thought that was enough. Kelsey didn’t give up.  She proceeded to ask and then beg me every day.  After a couple months, she started writing me letters outlining all the reasons why we needed a puppy and promising me that she would take great care of him or her.   She did this almost every day for a year. 

I finally gave in and I am so glad I did.  Sadie Bug, an adorable Bichon Friese, came into our home over ten years ago and immediately stole our hearts.  She was the sweetest little dog that God ever created and became the center of our home.  This little girl loved us and we loved her more than words can express.  Wherever we went in the house Sadie was there usually on one our laps.  When Beth and I watched television she was between us on the couch.  She loved to play fetch with her ball or one of her squeaky toys.  But the highlight of her day (and ours) was taking her for a walk.  She was in heaven when she was outside.  She didn’t like it when we were gone but always made “coming home” a major celebration.  Sadie sat on a loveseat we have in our kitchen and looked out the bay window at the driveway the entire time we were away – waiting for us to return.  When we walked through that door her tail would wave uncontrollably and we would be showered with kisses.

Sadie was always healthy, but around Thanksgiving she experienced a couple of seizures and began having trouble walking.  Our vet thought it was a neurological problem and then a dog neurologist confirmed our fears.  Sadie had a tumor that wrapped around her spine and would have to undergo a painful and risky surgery to make it more than a month or two.  We were devastated and just loved on her as much as we could.  Even though she was on steroids to ease the inflammation she went downhill.  On January 27, we knew she was telling us it was time for her to cross the Rainbow Bridge.  That was one of the worst days of my life.

Our house seemed so empty.  There was no “welcome home” celebration.  We came into a quiet house.  We missed the sound of her paws walking on the hardwood floors.  We missed rubbing her soft belly.  We missed her wet kisses and her unconditional love.  We missed Sadie.  There was a feeling of sadness in the house and it didn’t feel right.  I never realized I could love a pet so much.  She left her paw prints on our hearts forever. 

About a week and a half went by and we began to realize that we could never replace Sadie but we could find another dog to love.  After a few days of searching online I found a female Bichon puppy that was available.  I called and the man who answered the phone said that she was as sweet and cute of a little female dog as he had seen.  Beth and I hopped in the car and drove over an hour to see this special little girl.  She had us at hello.  She reminded us so much of Sadie that we immediately knew she was destined to be with us.  We named her Zoey Lu!

We brought her home and the entire family came over to meet her.  Kirstyn and Jeff brought my grandsons, Cole and Gavin, and Kelsey quickly changed her weekend plans at college to be with us.  We ate pizza and salad and loved on the newest addition to our family. 

Zoey Lu adapted right away to our home.  She is only ten weeks old and is extremely playful.  She is waking us up early in the morning and has had her share of “accidents” in the house.  She is chewing on everything (including us at times) but we wouldn’t trade her for the world. 

We miss Sadie everyday and I want to thank the thousands of people who offered their condolences and good wishes on my Facebook page, Dan Wheeler QVC.  But Zoey Lu has helped to turn our sadness into rejoicing.  I have posted videos and photos of her on Facebook and Twitter and the response has been overwhelming.

Coming home is a celebration again.  There is nothing else that compares to seeing a little fur baby with her tail wagging uncontrollably ready to give you snuggles and lots of wet kisses.  Someone who gives true unconditional love.  She doesn’t care what we look like or smell like. She loves us no matter what. 

A friend recently sent me a story on Facebook about a veterinarian who was called to a friend’s house to help their  family dog cross the Rainbow Bridge.  Their little boy was there just loving and petting the dog until he was gone. The child seemed to handle this difficult situation extremely well.  They were all talking in the living room later when the father commented that he didn’t understand why pets stayed with us for such a short period of time.  The little boy smiled and said that he knew why.  He explained that humans have to spend a lifetime trying to learn how to truly love others unconditionally but pets already know. They come into our lives to teach us and then they go back to heaven after their job is done.

That little boy was right.  Thanks for reading this and may God bless you and all of the special fur babies who give us so much love.

-Dan