Boomer Connections This Boomer's Life

It was Valentine’s Day 2004. The day of love and romance! Maybe for others, but not for me!    After 22  years of marriage, I decided I had had enough and moved out of my home. I moved into a two bedroom  apartment with very little furniture. My husband and I had grown apart. We had different goals in life and  it wasn’t going to work.

Besides the ending of my marriage, I was losing my Dad. He had been sick and we knew we weren’t going to have him around too much longer. He passed 6 months later in New York. This time in my life when I really needed the support of my husband the most, he wasn’t there for me. I had started a new job in my Federal Agency that I was working for, my youngest son was graduating from high school, and my marriage was over. This was a very difficult time for me, but I knew it would be OK. I left my home with all my personal belongings, half the kitchen supplies, and some of the furniture to begin my new life.

The tough part of my decision to move out was leaving my son with his father. He was a senior in high school and I did not want to take him out of his high school and put him into another when he only had a few months left before he graduated. My daughter was in college and lived at school. It was a tough time for both of my children. My daughter needed to distance herself from it for a while. She got an apartment at school and worked there even after she graduated from college. Luckily she was only about an hour or so away.

My first night in my apartment was both bittersweet and a big relief. My daughter had to go back to college after she helped me move. I felt lonely, emotional, and sad that my long time marriage ended, but I knew in my heart that I deserved happiness and so did my husband. It just wasn’t going to be with each other. I was an emotional wreck at work. My co-workers understood what I was going through and just helped me through it. They didn’t ask questions when I, for no reason, would burst into tears. It was understood!

One of the things that I really wanted was a companion–the furry four-legged kind! My husband never wanted any animals and I am an animal lover. I thought now that I didn’t have to live with him any longer, I would get a dog! After about a week in my lonely apartment I decided to go to the local shelters and see if I could find my best friend. I went to one shelter that was very clean and homey inside. It was very well taken care of. I wanted a small male dog about 25 pounds. They didn’t have any available, but they did have one female dog who was about 33 pounds. She was a stray. Someone found her and another dog that may have been her brother walking on a major highway. The male dog was killed, so they picked the female dog up and took her to a foster care home for animals to see how well she would be with children and other animals. When I went to the shelter the dog had been there only one day. I thought she was cute enough, but she was an odd looking dog. She was a cross between a Corgi and a German Shepherd. She had a Corgi face on a stocky body with long legs. Her coloring was definitely Shepherd. She had the sweetest most expressive brown eyes that I had ever seen on a dog. The caretaker took her out of the cage and brought the dog into a room so we could get acquainted. I was very skeptical about this whole thing, but I agreed to go into the room with the dog and the caretaker and see how the dog would react to me. I sat on the couch next to the caretaker and they let the dog wander around the room. The dog sniffed around then suddenly turned around to me and parked herself between my legs and looked up at me like she was saying, “take me home!” The dog adopted me! I couldn’t resist those sweet eyes and decided that this dog would go home with me. Her name became Callie. Callie was scheduled to be spayed the next day so I had to wait a couple of days to bring my new companion home.

Finally the joyful day came and Callie was ready to be taken home. The caretakers said that the spaying was a little more difficult than anticipated because the dog was in heat. The vet said that she had recently had a litter as well. They gave me pain pills for Callie and she wore a cone around her head so she wouldn’t pull out the stitches. Needless to say it was a challenge for poor Callie to eat her food. She got the hang of it and it was OK.

I never knew where Callie came from or where she had been. I knew that someone must have owned her because she was housebroken and very well behaved. She never chewed anything or messed anything. I didn’t really know how old Callie was either. I scheduled a well dog visit with a vet I chose to determine Callie’s overall health and to establish her with a vet. We went for the vet appointment and everything was great. I was very happy about that. The vet determined that Callie was about 2-3 years old. As the vet was doing Callie’s checkup she noticed that Callie had a BB from a BB gun embedded under her skin on the inside of her leg. I was very distressed about this. How could anyone shoot such a sweet dog! The vet was not overly concerned because the BB was not that far inside the tissue and it wasn’t causing Callie any pain. The area was healed so it could have been there a long time. This was just further confirmation to me that Callie had been wandering around for awhile.

The first couple of months Callie liked to bolt when she could. That was the stray in her and she didn’t really like to be confined. I had to take her out on a leash at all times. There were a number of times when Callie ran out the door and I had to go chasing after her to bring her home. Callie also liked going into the garbage so I had to put the garbage can on a chair so Callie couldn’t reach it and wouldn’t leave me any surprises when I got home from work. One evening I was fixing my lunch to take to work the next day. I was preparing tuna fish so I put the container with the tuna in it on the table and turned my back for a minute to get the bread so I could make the sandwich. No sooner had I turned my back Callie somehow got the tuna from the table and ate it so fast that it was practically gone by the time I turned around again. I was so surprised that this little pooch could reach up on my table and get the tuna. Callie already had her dinner so this was interesting. I just laughed. I could hardly scold the poor dog for that incident. I knew never to put anything on the table thinking it was “out of Callie’s reach”. Callie was loved, well cared for, and well fed it was just her stray coming out again!

When I took Callie to her annual well dog visit at the vet, Callie had gained 10 pounds that first year with me. I didn’t realize that Callie had gained so much weight. The vet said that it wasn’t good for her so she told me to feed her less. This was a challenge because I had a hard time resisting those sweet brown eyes.

As time went by Callie and I became adjusted to each other and Callie learned to walk on a leash. She also wasn’t as eager to bolt out the door when the door was open. Callie liked her new home, she loved me, and I had a companion to keep me company through the lonely cold nights.

Callie turned out to be a great joy for me. She was very sweet and affectionate–albeit on her terms! Callie was a very independent little doggie! We went on walks and even travelled together. I was involved with my son’s Boy Scout troop and would go on camping trips with the scouts on weekends. I brought Callie with me to some of the campouts to the delight of the boys. Callie got lots of attention and did well in the outdoors. I had to chain her to a tree or keep her on a leash so she wouldn’t dart. I didn’t want to take any chances with her because I wasn’t sure how she would react outside. She wasn’t darting from home anymore, but it was a new environment being outdoors again and I didn’t want to find out the hard way.

Callie overcame her need to dart, to get into the garbage, and to steal my food. She turned out to be an ideal companion for me and we were very happy!

Ten years later, I am a much happier woman. I am in a healthy relationship with a man I love. We enjoy travelling and doing different things together. I have found some great friends at my church and in my community. I have wonderful grandsons whom I adore. I enjoy my work and am doing well. On March 22, 2014, my faithful companion, Callie transitioned from my life. She got congestive heart failure and her body just couldn’t handle it. She is now in doggie heaven! She was there for me during some very emotional times. Now that I have moved to the next level of my life, I guess she felt it was her time to go. She was about 13 or 14 years old. We were never sure. I have love, pictures, and warm memories of my life with Callie.