It’s official! Kloe is bigger than Kali. At seven months she now towers over her big sister. But don’t let the serious expression on her face in the photo below fool you.
Inside, she is still this same puppy that she was the day we brought her home at nine weeks old.
Well it’s been almost five days and I think I made it. But I still have about 20 hours to go….
Holly and I went to visit my son and his wife in Chicago for Thanksgiving. Admittedly it was very stressful for me to think about leaving Kali behind for five days. We’re fortunate to have a dear friend with two dogs of her own who offered to watch Kali while we were gone.
Our friend Colleen has two very nice dogs of her own: Bucky, a one year old golden lab who is as full of spunk and energy as you would expect. The other dog is Callie, a Chocolate lab around 11 years and a little slower and full of love. Bucky and Callie live in a dog house. By that I mean, like Kali and Smokey, Colleen’s home is all about the dogs with human family members embracing them as family members of the highest status. They took Kali in with welcome and loving arms and for that I will be forever grateful.
From the regular texts Colleen sent to me it sounds like Kali had a full week of walks, playing in the park with her new fur-cousins, and lots and lots of sleeping in front of the fire place. In the photo below , not surprisingly, Bucky the youngster of the group wanted no part of sitting sill for the picture in front of the fire place where the dogs’ fluffy beds were laid out. Kali and Callie had no such problem after a long walk and lots of rolling around and wrestling at the park.
Kali and Callie in front of the fire. But where’s Bucky?
Kali has never been away from us for this long before so it will be fun to see her reaction (and mine) when we pick her up in the morning. Meanwhile, I sit at ORD writing this post thinking that tomorrow can’t get here fast enough.
Sleep tight Golden Kali and I’ll see you in the morning.
I was looking at some pictures of Kali when she was a puppy…..
No I wasn’t. How could I? Kali rescued me when she was about five years old. Five years old is far from a puppy even for a Golden. I can only imagine what she looked like as a puppy. I can only surmise that certain traits she exhibits now would have been evident in some subtle way as a puppy. With my children, now adults, I observe expressions or body language that I can directly relate to them when they were toddlers. I have a wonderful picture of my oldest smiling at his bride during their “first dance” at their wedding reception. It was the same smile – exactly the same smile – he had when I came home from the hospital after my daughter was born and told him he had a baby sister.
I’ve always been one to reminisce about the old days, to look at old photos, and to watch the family videos. Videos – what are those?!? 🙂 It’s gratifying to see my adult children grown up and be able to relate words, expressions, and personality traits to them as young children or infants.
I love Kali as much as my kids. Now don’t try to give me one of those crazy scenarios where Lois Lane was going to be dropped from a helicopter and Jimmy Olsen was half way around the world with a gun to his head and “if you were Superman who would you save?” I do love Kali as much as my kids and yes, on one hand there can’t be the comparison between your child and your dog. On the other hand, Superman would save both Lois and Jimmy without having to justify who he would have saved first. And I too would find a way to save both Kali and my kids if they were in danger at the same time half a world apart. Do I digress? Maybe…
(I think) my point was that I have a plethora of photos of my kids at every age and stage of their lives. If I want to see Jonathan at 6 months old, no problem. If I want to see Jessi at 4 months – pull out the album or call up some scanned photos on my computer. And if I want to see some pictures of Kali as a pup? No-can-do.
So as happy as it makes me to have been rescued by Kali when she was five it makes me a little sad to not know her fully story and past. I wish I could recall in my mind or see a photo and recognize the same expression or body language in a similar situation when she was a pup.
So while I think I will always be rescued versus “born”, if that makes sense in the context of this post and rescued pets, I do think it would be so cool, and I am envious of those of you who have known your dogs since puppy-hood, to have the photos, the memories, and the whole story.
I know where Kali was a year ago. She was in Taiwan almost ready to fly to America and rescue me. But I don’t know where she was two years ago or three years ago. Was she happy? Was she safe. Did she get separated somehow from a great family by accident. Was she used and abused and thrown out with the trash? I don’t know. But what I do know is that as I sit on the patio and write this post Kali lies at my feet tuckered out after a long walk on a hot day. I know she’s safe and loved. She know’s she safe and loved.
And for Kali that’s way better than a box full of pictures.
Golden Kali 