Everyone has done their best to follow pandemic protocols.😷 We worry, for our children, for our parents, for the world. 👀 My husband and I both have jobs where we deal with people. And this year has unfolded before our very eyes -- Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion’, manifested. 🎞 As we attempt to maintain life, dipping into savings in order to do so, we always try to look on the bright side. 🙏🏽We are safe. We are healthy. We have not lost our homes nor any loved ones. And that gives us hope. With family and friends all over the globe, everyone’s COVID-19 reality is different. 🌎
One thing this pandemic has given us is a forced restructuring of our days. We create our own schedules -- not knowing we even needed this until it fell upon us. ⏰ Time to think. Read. Cook. Sleep. Walk. Talk. Bond. Now, I should note here that Indians historically (of my parent's generation) are not really big on pets. In India, it is not that common. 🇮🇳 For me, born and raised in a small northern Canadian town, our family actually did have two dogs. 🐶 🐕 My parents were quite hands-off with them, and our dogs roamed about outside a lot. In fact, when asking my Mom about Dean and Sam, she absolutely does not remember either one. 🤔 So there you have it. 🤷🏻♀️
This summer, my own family got a puppy. Reluctant as I was -- they had been asking for a long time -- this year they persuaded me. Call it ‘COVID vulnerability’. Now, we had no idea of the work, nor that he needed to be taken out every 3-4 hours. Call us ill-informed but we just didn’t know (we are not going the pee-pad route).🚪Our kids are teenagers, pursuing remote learning this semester. 💻 🎧 And so, they are doing the lion’s share, generally alternating nights with Johnny, since my husband and I get up at 6 am and have to leave the house. Stepping up -- for no other reason than their love and commitment to this puppy -- I really didn’t know they had it in them. 🤷🏻♀️I always assumed if we ever got a dog I would be the primary, and (while I love dogs) that it would be alienating. But because I was wrong, the four of us truly share in the day-to-day operations of raising and loving him -- something I never imagined could happen. As the one who runs most things inside the home, this is a huge wow for me. Socialism in a capitalist world.👌🏽👌🏽
We all have the capacity to love, never fully knowing how big our hearts can get -- until they are pushed, expanded, tested.♥️ This little guy has been a superglue, who has literally stolen our hearts. And if mine wasn’t about to burst already -- even during these trying times -- seeing our kids show such focus and care makes me want to cry. 😢 Johnny is hugs, he is silliness, he is joy. Yes, he is work. And yes (for an undiagnosed obsessive neat freak like me) it means giving in to a different kind of house. Removing all carpets. A lot of enzyme spray, accidents, and oh, the laundry. And being tired, and unsure if we even know what we are doing. 🤷🏻♀️ But that growth is also freeing. We figure it out together, calling on friends, experts, YouTube and each other. This little guy represents how we all need each other for survival. With him, we forget about pandemic stress, opening our hearts instead. 💕 My nephew Reign just lights up when he sees Johnny. Even my Mom (reluctantly) admits he is cute. The entire family, especially my in-laws, have fallen in love. And that coming together is a real thing of beauty. Particularly now, as we have been separated quite a bit by COVID-19. 😷
His middle name is Two Socks -- Dances With Wolves fans will know the wolf Kevin Costner’s Lt. Dunbar calls “Two Socks” (for his white forepaws), and befriends at a most trying time of survival. 🐺 The incredibly powerful scene with Two Socks and Dunbar dancing around a fire (hence the title) will move you to tears. 🔥 I have never forgotten it. When I look at Johnny, I think of the pain and loss so many have endured, are enduring, and deep in his eyes, I see hope. 🥺 He is all that is good in this world, greedy for nothing but affection. Which he returns in spades. He has come into a home that is healed, growing that love even more. 🐾 Whether we are dog or cat lovers -- or not -- we all want warmth, tenderness, and love.
This is what makes me happy, Johnny Two Socks and all that he represents.❣️🐕🦺
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