I have always been a dog lover and I put my dogs at the top of my list every day. My husband and I just got married in May, but we got an adorable Golden Retriever puppy a couple of years ago and named him Boudreaux. Boudreaux is our pride and joy. My husband never had dogs growing up and I think he wasn’t really sure what to do with Boudreaux at first, but now they’re man friends. They go together like peas and carrots. Boudreaux is more excited when Todd walks in the door than he is about anything else. But we have always known that Boudreaux needed a friend, so we decided to adopt another Golden Retriever this year.
Well, in June, I got a call that my favorite cousin, John, was killed in a motorcycle accident. John was only 31 years old and lived life to the fullest. He could make everyone laugh and he lived on the edge. John had a little dog named Fiona. Fiona is a Brussels Griffon. He bred her and she had six beautiful little puppies in April. Fiona went everywhere with John. She was his girl. When we went to John’s funeral we asked who was going to keep Fiona. John’s family couldn’t keep her and his brother really wanted her, but he wasn’t sure he could afford her. I offered to take Fiona back to our house to be Boudreaux’s sister. Everyone resisted for a couple of weeks because it was so hard to give John’s dog away. I really wanted her because I wanted a piece of my cousin who was so dear to me. Fiona has been in our house in South Carolina since July 1 and I can’t imagine my life without her. She is such a little troooper and fireball! She has become like velcro to me and never leaves me side. She’s my girl now.
Our dogs have really bonded and they are such good buddies. We’ve turned them both into Gamecock fans!
The problem is that when we took our engagement photos we had some amazing pictures of Boudreaux taken. Now that Fiona is in the picture we feel bad that we don’t have beautiful photos of her to hang on the wall next to Boudreaux’s. She’s a very photogenic little girl! She loves to watch her friend, Verdel, in As Good as it Gets!
Fiona hasn’t saved a life, but she keeps John’s memory alive every day when I look at her.
