It is Saturday, the 4th day of Lent.  Sheba is graceful enough to let me sleep in till 7:30.  Hallelujah!  I am tired and achy still.   So what else is new?  If not for Sheba, sometimes I don’t think I can get out of bed or the house.  That is the reason she is in my life.  There’s a purpose unto everything.

She is sent from God to give me some getup and go.  I am the least likely person to get a dog and everyone was surprised.  Why are you having a baby at your age?  God only knows!  But she does get me out of the house and into life.  She is fulfilling her purpose and earning her keep.

We’ve been together now for six and a half years.  The early years were tough.  She was a handful and we fought constantly.  I wrestled with her at home, in back alleys on our walks.  I listened to everyone’s advice on how to raise her – my biggest mistake.  We tried this collar, that collar.  We tried all the ‘good’ collars.  None of them worked.  She chewed the gentle guider three times and laid in the snow, refusing to get up.  I was embarrassed.  I looked like a very bad mom.   In the end, she objected the least to the ‘bad’ collar – the pinch collar.  By then I was almost crippled and had no choice.

While some of our dog park friends have parted with their canine companions for one reason or another, Sheba and I are still together – the least likely couple to make it.  And how could we not make it?  We are blessed by God.  Sheba is such a gift, always so loving and full of joy.  And she is a talker, just like her mom.  We’re trying to be quieter through Lent.