So, of course, the story continues. Wrigley and Reilly existed on this planet for three whole days together. Wrigley, I believe, is Reilly’s gift to me. Wrigley was born on October 5th, and came to us just shortly before Christmas. We had had a dog that didn’t chew furniture, nibbled occasionally on a finger, maybe, would never counter surf or try to grab food off the coffee table and was pretty much potty trained when we brought him home.

Not so, this guy, who we lovingly called ‘the pirhanna’, because of those tiny, terrorizing puppy teeth! I was up two or three times in the middle of the night, walking him, not for pleasure but to ensure our floors stayed dry! He was an unknown and unknowing entity, and we had to get a handle on him fast! But all along, he was so sweet and playful, my heart melted at the sight of him.

Still, he was a real puppy. And as maddening as it was at first, he had his way of curing us, of relieving us of our Reilly tears. I had been told by a very southern, very sweet nurse at the eye doctor’s office, “What you really need is a puppy…and don’t wait too long!” My husband did not grab hold of this bit of sage wisdom. In fact, he questioned my sanity. And, honestly, so did I. We had the perfect dog, and now, we had a little monster! But at the very least, our new boy was adorable and sweet and a boatload of distraction. We were told by  trainers that a prerequisite to their puppy class was for us to hand feed him…I’m guessing that supposedly meant he would not bite that hand. Well, forget that. He bit anyway! We hid shoes and papers and most of all his faves–paper towels and tissues…oh, how he loved to shred those! We worked and worked to train him. And little by little life got better.

Just recently, I got a compliment from someone I don’t really know, but who knows dogs and has watched us grow this little stranger into another wonderful furry friend. She told my husband she loves watching the way he responds to me when she sees us walking! Woo-hoo! How we’ve worked at that! And yesterday, my trainer told me he’s becoming the dog I thought I was getting in the first place. For me, that is not a replacement for our Reilly. That awesome boy stands alone in my heart.

But this new boy has finally landed. He follows me and he follows my husband everywhere we go. He lays at my feet, teases me with his ball, and goads me to get that ball from under the couch just so he can possibly get a lick of that ice cream that I stupidly left sitting in a bowl on the coffee table. He’s smart and funny and so darn lovable! That southern gal in the eye doctor’s office was not wrong! He has been the cure for this aching heart. And now, we walk each other, under the moon and the stars and the tall Carolina pines, through paths with great blue herons fishing in the ponds alongside us and sometimes within sight of a distant gator. He stops sometimes and looks at me, staring right into my eyes, like he has something super important to tell me. A secret, a noticing or more. It’s at times like these that I just want to scoop him up and give him a giant hug. But now, he weighs in at 70 lbs., so I scratch his ear and give him a little hug and we move on.

And little by little, this beast has begun to change and acclimate himself to our rules (most of the time). He sits up on the bed alongside me as I write watching the comings and goings in our neighborhood, he hears me when I tell him, ‘no’, he waits, and comes when he’s called. All major triumphs of this first year. But most important of all, he matches his needs to ours, and we match ourselves to his. Our lives are completely intertwined. We are still working on calming his excitement when the doorbell rings or when we come upon a stranger. He may not sing to you, like Reilly once did, but he has to fight within himself to keep from leaping up and just keep his butt cemented to the ground. He is, after all, still a puppy. A curious, happy, people loving puppy. And that, we hope will remain inside him for a very long time.

And, as for my husband? Well, he’s come a long way too. He loves this pup as much as he loved Reilly. Wrigley waits till he’s invited to jump up into his lap on the wheelchair. And once that moment comes I see them, wrapped together just like I’d seen a thousand times before with Reilly. Neither of us could imagine a life without Wrigley! Because of him, our hearts are full once more.