My Blessing, Gracie

Gracie and I in Laguna Beach

This should have been one of my first posts! Gracie Kelly is my two year old puppy. I still call her a puppy because she acts like one and has the personality of a rambunctious 4 month old puppy! Since the day I got her, my life has been so much better. She has changed me in so many ways. I learned what is means to be selfless and have someone else to take care of. It isn’t about just me anymore. It is about Gracie and making sure she is okay. It is a wonderful feeling and I have learned so much from her. 🙂

I rescued Gracie from the San Jose Animal Shelter in the summer of 2010. I was having a very tough time in life and was feeling down. I live near by the shelter and occasionally I would stop in to see the animals to cheer me up. Some people don’t understand and think it is depressing but it really isn’t. Looking at the positive side of things, these animals are taken off the streets or from bad homes and are given the opportunity to have a new life! Just like Shannon…that was Gracie’s name when I found her. (She was picked up on the street somewhere in East Side San Jose.)

It was a Sunday afternoon and I strolled into the shelter. Every time I go I see tons of Chihuahuas and Pit bulls! They really over breed. I was shocked to see a fluffy white and black dog in one of the cages. I immediately fell in love with Gracie. I walked up and put my finger up to the cage to say hello. Usually I wouldn’t recommend this but I could tell she was extremely coy. She rolled over on her back and laid there. She was very submissive when I met her and actually still is a bit. She is opening up more of course but still sometimes curls up in a ball to strangers.

I left the shelter in love with her but not sure if I was ready to really commit to this. My Mom and I were throwing around the idea to get a dog together for some time and had a date to visit some Yorkies up in the Los Gatos hills the next day. I always wanted a Yorkie. They are just so cute and tiny and their teddy bear faces are irresistible. Of course we both fell in love with our own puppy at the breeders’ house but couldn’t commit to spending almost $1,500 for a puppy. I am so happy we didn’t.

On the way home I told her about “Shannon.” I wasn’t sure how my mom would handle the idea. I didn’t think she would like getting a shelter dog…and thought she would prefer purchasing a pure breed dog. But I was so wrong.

The shelter was closed the next day, Monday, so she went over first thing on Tuesday morning to see Shannon. She got there at 9:30am because she thought they opened at 9am. And good thing she got there early. As soon as she arrived a lot of people showed up and got in line behind her. The shelter opened at 10am and she was first in. I told her to go find Shannon and she did. She was the first one to the cage to see her. She called me immediately and said she loved her. She spoke to the staff and asked about the process for adoption. No one else had put in any requests and Gracie had been there for almost 7 days at this time. So many questions ran through my head. Why didn’t her owners come claim her…did she have owners? Was she born on the streets?

My mom called me and said she wanted to adopt Gracie and asked for my final thoughts. I was so excited..she told me not to get too excited yet because there were at least 10 other people in there eyeballing her. About an hour later, my mom called me back screaming, “WE GOT HER!” I could not believe it. I asked her if she could leave her there because I wanted to come back with her later in the day and pick her up. I wanted to experience it and be there with her when she left and become OURS. It was a silly idea and my mom assured me if she didn’t take her now she wouldn’t be there later that day.

I was in Concord at the time working…60 miles away but felt like I was hundreds of miles away. I just wanted to be there for the process and see her precious face as she jumped in the car. On the drive home I started brainstorming names for her. I threw around a few names..but nothing stuck.

My mom brought her home to my house and made a nest for her in the kitchen. She put up a baby gate, put a bed in there, toys, food and water. I finally got home a few hours later and was so happy! What a wonderful surprise. I was almost in tears. She was amazing. So loving and excited to be out of that stinky, noisy shelter!

Then it hit me. This was a complete blessing. A Grace from God. It all made sense. She was as much as a blessing to me, as I was for her. GRACE. GRACIE. MY LOVE.