When our children were eight and ten they really wanted a dog! That Christmas as we stood before the mantle to open our four stockings, there was a surprise banner that said: DOG IS GOD SPELLED BACKWARDS! I instantly knew that we would be getting a puppy soon and that it was our daughter who had drawn our son Brett’s name to fill his stocking this year. She was the artist who had made the banner and stuffed his stocking with puppy items: a little book on puppy care, a dog brush, and a wind-up alarm clock to simulate the Mother dog’s heart beat as the puppy learned to sleep alone.
We had a family meeting with faith that the soul of the puppy would be listening and would hear HOW exactly we were going to find OUR dog. Since the kids wanted a beagle and we wanted a puppy from the animal shelter, we agreed that it would be half beagle. We agreed to keep it simple and that one day Brett would look in the advertisements in the paper and know it was our dog. It turned out Brett got mononucleosis during this time and near the end of recovery he came to me and said: “Our dog is in the paper!” I immediately called “The Ark” and the lady said she would wait. It was an hour ride, but when we walked in, one puppy ran towards Brett. It was half beagle and half shepherd and she had been conceived shortly after Christmas. It was love at first sight. We liked the name “Honey” and an out of town friend who was visiting suggested the French word for honey is miel. Since she was female we spelled it Mielle.
This is how we found our gem and she was the angel in our family for ten years. She got very sick and we had to put her to sleep. Tami was at college, so Herb, Brett and I took her to the vet. She lay on my lap as we whispered our good-byes.
Brett always said of Mielle: “She taught me how to love.” It was a full cycle since GOD IS LOVE and we started with a banner that said: “DOG IS GOD SPELLED BACKWARDS.”
2.23.09