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Its coat was a shiny, silvery-grey color, and her eyes were the most elaborate crystal blue that had me lost in them within seconds. They brought tranquility and comfort. So lost I hadn’t even realized until the majestic animal started down the stairs that it only had three legs.
It was astonishing how well the animal moved as if missing a leg was nothing. I thought it would go to Gretchen as all the other dogs had, but instead, it came straight toward me. Without any thought at all, I dropped to my knees.
I’m not sure what came over me, but tears fell down my face as I immediately wrapped my arms around the dog's and nuzzled my nose onto its neck.
“You're beautiful, baby,” I whispered to the dog.
Raising my head, I looked at Gyth, my vision blurred from wetness. “Thank you for bringing me here, Big Guy.”
“Sunshine, she is yours.” His eyes were reserved waiting for my response and filled with hope too.
My lips trembled and I put my hand on my chest as my heart pounded, rapidly in shock. “M-mine?”
“Yes, if you want her?” His handsome face and soft features as he looked into my eyes had me falling for him even more.
“I want her more than anything,” I replied immediately, hugging the dog again tightly.
Then laughter from the woman broke out around us as Gyth said, “More than anything?”
Turning my face back to him, his brows were raised and his face had a look that probably should have been private. I blushed bright pink but was saved when Gretchen spoke.
“How about we take a walk around the property and talk?”
I looked at her and then Gyth.
Gyth reached out his hand to help me up, but my eyes went back to the dog. I didn’t want to leave her. Gretchen seemed to sense what I was feeling and said, “Ash can come too.”
Her name was Ash, which was perfect with her color. Looking back at Gyth, I placed my hand in his and rose. As we followed Gretchen, Ash stayed by my side. It was truly remarkable the way she seemed to know that she and I were meant to be.
As we walked through a field of wildflowers behind the house, Gretchen told me a heartbreaking but also fascinatingly-beautiful story.
Her husband was a Marine, a lifer she’d said. He sounded like a damn courageous and amazing man from everything I heard. A man who took his duty seriously and with intensity, and died doing what he loved.
But it was clear that he loved his wife fiercely as well, as she did him. When he passed away and was left alone, she went into a deep depression. Then one day a stray, scruffy dog showed up at her home, changing her life again. The pup brought a passion to her soul and healed her heart.
While trying to find the dog’s owners, she visited many facilities but didn’t find them. What she found were two things instead. There were far too many dogs that needed a home, and those furry friends could help people in their time of despair.
The mist and sadness in her eyes as she talked and still grieved for her husband was heart-wrenching, but the spirit In her that shimmered when she spoke of the dogs and her work lit up her face.
Not only did Gretchen take in rescues, but those she could, she trained to be ESA dogs so that others in need of the comfort like she had could get it and the dogs could find a forever home as well.
“That brings us to why you're here today I guess. Gyth knew my husband and through the grapevine heard what I had been doing and that I was close by. When he first came to me hoping to find you the perfect dog and told me your story, I immediately thought of Ash.”
Looking at Gyth I wondered how he knew just what would make me happy and why he cared so much. I smiled at him and he winked as he returned a smile of his own.
Damn, I was a lucky lady.
I looked down at Ash and ran my hand across her soft fur. Not able to help myself, I dropped to my knees once more. Gretchen then told me another story as I knelt looking into the dog’s majestic, sparkling blue eyes.
“Ash is a Weimaraner. The people who owned her breed them, but when Ash was just a few months old she got an infection in her right front leg and was dropped at the Humane Society. I happened to be there as fate would have it when they brought her in and I knew right then what I would do with no question at all.”
I looked up at the woman standing above me and I couldn’t help thinking how freaking remarkable of a lady she was. Ash was here so I knew what was coming, but even knowing that, didn’t stop the goosebumps that broke across my skin as she told me how she adopted the dog and paid for her surgery, then brought her home to her place.
“Ash is special. She is intelligent, smart, will be a great family dog, and is so loving. When she was a year old I decided to train her as an emotional support dog and she is just a year and a half now, but I honestly didn’t know that I would give her up.”
My heart raced, scared that Gretchen wouldn’t be able to let her go as I listened to her. But her next words sent my soul soaring.
“When Gyth talked about how special you were to him and that he wanted to find the right dog for you, the love in his voice told me all I needed to know. I could let Ash go and together you two would find so much affection, love, and peace together.”
