She's a Rainbow
Bill and I have recently trained to become volunteers at the SPCA. Usually, our job will be to walk the dogs, however, they send out emails asking for additional help when needed. Last Monday, they asked for transportation for an elderly dachshund named Rainbow to her cardiology appointment on Wednesday. I said yes, but unfortunately, by Wednesday, I still could not drive (I had “minor” sinus surgery a week before and the recovery was a LOT more than I had anticipated). Bill said he would go with me and at 8:00 Wednesday morning, we picked up Rainbow from the SPCA. She walked out of there like she owned the place. She sat on my lap the whole drive and watched everything going on outside with such curiosity. She had red sparkly toenail polish on. When we got to the vet, she told me that she needed to "go" so we went over to the grass and she did her business. Very smart girl. She was totally fearless going into the vet and everyone just adored her.
When she was finished with her appointment, they called us to come and pick her up. They said she had been such a good girl. The whole drive back she sat on my lap and anytime I stopped petting her, she would push her snout under my hand so I would remember to keep doing it. We walked inside and she seemed happy to be back. We went by the clinic and everyone was very happy to see her. We had bought her a fancy new bandana with hearts on it so they put it on her. Then we put her back in her cage, 1C. It was all decked out with a bed and toys and food and water. She started eating her food immediately and was oblivious when we walked away. I guess she was hungry. We walked around to say hi to the other dogs. There were tons of puppies that day. Three litters! As we started to leave, we turned to look at Rainbow's cage and she was staring at us and shaking. We ran over to her and opened the cage. I wrapped my arms around her and she stopped shaking. She looked me in the eyes with the sweetest, most loving look, which of course brought me to tears. I couldn't let her go. When it became obvious that we really needed to leave, I let her go and we just stared at her as we walked out the door. I cried the entire way home and Bill asked if we should just go back and get her. I wasn't feeling very well and I didn't know what to say. How could we have a third dog? Especially one who was 15 years old and really probably deserved a quieter home without two large puppies and a cat twice her size. We said we would think about it and visit her on Thursday.
Unfortunately, I got very ill on Thursday (because of aforementioned sinus surgery, argh!) and was in bed pretty much all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Every time I looked in Millie's eyes, I could see Rainbow's face. I just loved on my sweet babies as much as I could.
On Saturday, I started to feel better. I’d been checking the Humane Society website to see if Rainbow was still there. My fear was that she had been there a long time and since she was an older dog, she might not be the first choice for a lot of people. I just knew in my heart how special she was though and she deserved to live her final weeks, months, years in absolutely the best and most loving home available. I didn’t know if we had the space for her, but I was determined to make it work. Saturday evening, I typed in her name on the website and her profile did not come up. Had she been adopted?? I sent the SPCA an email asking if she had found her forever home. They are absolutely the greatest people and they replied quickly that a very lovely young woman had come in and had absolutely adored her and took her home. My heart soared. It was a miracle! Rainbow’s miracle! Bill and I were thrilled.
Today, I am writing this in tears, but tears and tears of joy. I am so incredibly grateful for the good people at the SPCA and that we got a chance to meet Miss Rainbow. I learned so much from her about unconditional love in such a short amount of time. She showed me how to love my own babies even more than I thought possible. And I am exceptionally grateful for the “lovely young woman” who adopted this sweet angel and gave her a forever home. We may not ever get to see Rainbow again, but I will always see her face when I look into Grace’s and Millie’s eyes. There is nothing quite like that loving look from a dog. It will melt your heart and make absolutely everything OK.
