Shenanigans
First paragraph, second paragraph, third paragraph,
Record was written, not just a draft,
She was deemed inappropriate for a home,
Her innocent life was in a danger zone.
No one knew what happened to her mom,
Was she angry, friendly or quite calm?
At month two, the puppy was spayed,
Cut open! Fixed up! No delay!
Too young to have done anything wrong,
She and I instantly got along,
Her other siblings were doing great,
Unlike her, who just cheated death.
What a life drama,
What a real dilemma,
If she wasn’t adopted,
Her body would be executed.
Like she was trapped in a house on fire,
If I walked in, I could die later,
Committed, devoted, I followed through,
Little did I know saving her would save me, too.
Fearful, fearful, fearful,
The adoption people gave me an earful,
Train her, train her, train her,
Training would help her get better.
First paragraph, second paragraph, third paragraph,
Permanent record was not the final draft,
Unable to blame her for distrusting humans,
I signed the paper to become her parent.
At the time, my marriage was ending,
Divorce and losses were lurking,
She was my love at first sight,
During my dark times, she became my light.
Counting her, we would have six,
She was a lab and Shar Pei mix,
He and I planned to co-own together,
A few years later, he was out of the picture.
Nervous, nervous, nervous,
Like her, I was a real mess,
Divorce was never ever kind,
I ended up with two and left four behind.
My whole heart was broken,
So many things were left unspoken,
He was so good at taking advantage,
He was so good at breaking promises.
I would not have survived,
Unless I moved away and cut ties,
As a single mom embarking on this new journey,
Pretending to believe in my destiny.
What didn’t happen during the last 12 years?
A lot of love, a lot of joy, a lot of fear,
Relocation, accusation, eviction,
Education, exploration, training sessions.
Surgeries, therapy, recovery,
Hypocrisy, disloyalty, enemies,
Confusion, meditation, enlightenment,
Hesitation, separation, ultimatum.
Sadness, anger, pain,
Strength, trust, spiritual gain,
All flavors were delivered,
Twelve years made me better and wiser.
Behavioral and medical complications —
Her challenges dragged me through different life lessons,
By day, I wore a financial guru mask,
By night, credit cards paid for this rescue task.
Budgeting was an idealistic theory,
A mortal enemy to my morality,
The universe forced me to choose,
Would I sacrifice everything for my truth?
Would I survive judgment and criticism?
Would I endure disrespect and ostracism?
Would I choose and obey my new lover —
His condition was for me to abandon her?
She was loving and sweet,
But strangers had to keep distance a few feet,
I was young and immature,
I didn’t know the secret to the cure.
Most dog whisperers were overrated,
Applying wrong theories to the nervous,
Even highly recommended referrals,
Trouble was doubled; dollars were tripled.
Train her, train her, train her,
We kept running into terrible trainers,
I tried, I tried, I tried,
Hoping one day she would shine.
But forcing seemed to make things worse,
How could she thrive around conditional love,
Another life chapter ended,
Leaving behind those who were toxic.
No more forcing her to be,
Loving her for her unique personality,
No more expecting her to change,
She was a cautious dog, not a charismatic saint.
More and more support showed up,
Our journey was less and less tough,
Her circle of trust expanded,
More people became our advocates.
Then, another round of storms hit our city,
She was plagued by medical mysteries,
Another few years of trials and tribulations,
Another wave of intense life lessons.
The whole time, she maintained great spirits,
Showing us how to happily live,
More and more people fell for her,
Unconditional love made her much sweeter.
Sweet, sweet, sweet,
Still cautious but very sweet,
Her narrative was changing,
New record was being written.
Her last few years were heaven on earth,
We were able to minimize her physical hurt,
Many adventures and walks at the beach,
Frequent fun, relaxing vet visits.
First message, second message, third message,
Everyone loved her to pieces,
The card said goodbye to Shenanigans,
Wishing her the best time in dogs’ heaven!
Writer’s Notes: Shenanigans’ biography, completed today on April 12, 2023!
