We had Rusty, our Golden Retriever, for 12 years. When he died, a year ago January, his absence was palatable and it took our family a long time to grieve losing him. A few months ago, we started the process of looking into rescuing another dog. We worked with DFW Lab Rescue (dfwlabrescue.org), to begin the paperwork and approval process. I fell in love with a little yellow lab mix with cute white markings on her face. They assured me that everyone loved that particular puppy and I was far too behind in the process to even think about getting her.
Then suddenly, last week, Holy Week, my crunch time, THAT puppy became miraculously available. After weeks of being in the application process, she could be ours in a matter of days. Days! I picked her up on Good Friday, our Easter puppy, because love and new life trumps logic and reason every time. Rollie has reminded me, in the short time we’ve had her, of a few things we all should remember:
1. It’s good to go outside lots of times every day, rain or shine, day or night.
2. It’s good to have people. What if we all greeted our people enthusiastically every time we see them, even if they stepped out of the room for just a few seconds?
3. Playing is fun. We should all play more.
4. Walking is great. We should all walk more.
5. Food, water and treats are beautiful things. We should appreciate those things greatly, maybe even wag our tails in gratitude.
6. A clean house is overrated. Messy food and water bowls, puppy toys everywhere and lots of leaves, grass and sticks tracked in make a house a home.
7. Dog hair on people clothes is not the end of the world.
8. Cuddling is good. We should all cuddle more.
9. It’s really good to have a nice soft bed to retreat to.
10. We should walk, play, cuddle, wag tails and greet each other so hard every day that we are super tired at night.
Dr. Cindy Ryan 
So VERY happy Rollie received the Easter miracle of being in You home and family! Lucky family, lucky puppy.