I admit it. I thought she was a dud.
     Jennifer and I walked nervously into Adopt A Golden Atlanta’s adoption day. We had only been married for two short weeks and had not even had a chance to raise our first house plant, which is supposed to be on the bottom rung of the ladder of life. You know what I’m talking about; we were supposed to raise a house plant without dying and then a pet and then a child. In a couple of hours I would be thinking that a house plant has more personality than what we ended up bringing home.
     I had never had a pet and here I am about to be responsible for a Golden Retriever. Sure, I had been around a lot of dogs being a bird hunter, but those dogs were trained to obey commands. Would this dog be trained to do anything or more importantly, NOT to do other things?
     As we made our way around the room of twenty or so dogs, ranging from the young seven month old hellion to the more sedentary 8-year-old adult dog, it occurred to me that we didn’t eve discuss what we wanted in a dog. Jennifer assured me that it would be made clear when our dog found us.
     I spotted a curious young male. His name was Twinkie. He licked my face and jumped in my arms. I was smitten. As I turned to get that approving nod from Jennifer, she was nowhere around. I scanned the room to find her knelt beside a red female named Anna. I hurried to her to tell her I had found him. She didn’t hesitate to tell me she had found her. I called a family huddle.
     As we compared stories of how our dogs had found us, it became clearer that I was fighting a losing battle. Jennifer had made our decision for us. Twinkie would have to use his charm on someone else. I needed to break the news to him in person but as I re-entered the room, there he was jumping and licking someone else. Not only had I been vetoed by my wife, I had been cheated on by Twinkie. It was a hard pill to swallow.
     We ended up adopting Anna; a name that was given to her by Adopt A Golden Atlanta. Jennifer and did not even know a person named Anna, let alone a dog. We abruptly changed her name to Millie. Millie was a scared one and a half year old red Golden Retriever. Her first month was spent cowering in a corner and not responding to her name. Jennifer was quick to remind me that we didn’t know her past and what she had gone through. She would ask me to put myself in her paws and think about her past two months. She had lived in four different places, been spayed and lost her litter mates. No wonder she was petrified. Still, I wondered if we had gotten a dud.
     Over the next few months, Millie began to come out of her shell. She would show us how smart she was. By month three with us, she was sitting, shaking, and healing. She was still hesitant to show affection, but she was coming around. She was meeting the neighborhood dogs and making acquaintances with passers by who would always comment on her regal look.
     Around month six it happened. As Jennifer and I watched television, Millie came over to Jennifer who was sitting on the floor and laid her head in her lap. This unprovoked gesture meant the world to us. We even shed a little tear of joy because we realized that our dog had finally found both of us.
     We have been so lucky to have Millie for almost two years. Everyone who knows her, especially her grandparents, comments on her royal appearance and personality. She goes on daily walks, loves to swim and chase squirrels and most of all be around the two of us.
     Needless to say, our dud became a duchess.