I think it’s time I introduce you to Finn. Losing Katouche to cancer crushed me. In trying to do something to honor him in some way, I decided to foster another dog from Anguilla.
Finn had been dumped on a beach with eight other litter mates. He had made it to New Jersey, but a month later, still didn’t have a home.
James and I took a little road trip to pick him up with the premise of fostering him. Everyone laughed. We knew right away that he wasn’t going anywhere.
My friend Sarah came and took a picture of Katouche on his last day with us. It seemed fitting that she took Finn’s adoption picture as well.
She told me there was a beautiful field with flowers in full bloom and suggested that location. It turned out to be Katouche’s favorite place. We even had our last walk there. So I was emotional from the start.
I have always believed that our loved ones who have passed on visit us in the form of winged creatures. When I lost my best friend, a butterfly landed on my knee. When I visited the grave of a loved one, a bird landed beside us and just watched us.
When I sat down with Finn in this field, we were suddenly surrounded by bright blue dragonflies. They flew all around us, taking turns landing on us both. I have the chills just thinking about it. My hope is that Katouche and Bruiser and now Sophie are all together. I miss them everyday.
Finn is helping to heal our hearts, but it still isn’t easy. After I bought a bag of puppy food, I got back in my car and unexpectedly burst into tears. If felt like moving on… without him.
It has been an adjustment going from the perfect old dog that slept by my side all day to a rambunctious puppy that is into everything. I don’t think my heart was really ready, but I also couldn’t imagine my life without a dog in it.
Finn is a goofball. He is full of energy and hates sleeping past 6 am. If it is on the floor, it is fair game for him to destroy. He keeps us clean and active. He makes us laugh every day.
After all the loss we have been through this year, we were done saying goodbye. So please say hello to our new family member.
