Dylan

Eight years ago I had a long-term relationship end.  It was a terrible time for me.  It was the kind of ending that forced me to move back across the country to be closer to my family.  After staying with my parents for a few months, I moved to Chicago to begin a new life.  That was a tough transition, to say the least.  I was hurt, and I was angry.  I was also quite lonely, living by myself for the first time in my life.  I simply had no idea who I was anymore. I was lost. 

At that time, I wasn’t certain about much, but one thing I knew for sure was that I wanted a dog….or to be more accurate…I NEEDED a dog.  Though I had friends in the city, I couldn’t shake my loneliness….the evenings at home were painfully quiet and painfully sad.  So, I found myself, one Saturday afternoon in October driving out to the suburbs to the Chicago Animal Welfare League, the area’s largest no-kill shelter.  I spent the first hour walking up and down the aisles with tears running down my face.  There were so many.  How could I possibly only choose one?  I finally forced myself to get a grip and devised a plan that I would pick 3 and then I would “meet” each of them before making my choice.

The first time I walked by this guy’s cage, he got up, tilted his head and looked me over.  Each time I came back around, he would get up and tilt his head back and forth, studying me.  I added his number to my list. 

He was the first one that I met.  When they brought him into the room, he came and placed his head in my lap….it was all I needed.  I promptly signed the papers and named him Dylan…after Bob and his song “Blowin in the Wind”.  That afternoon, he rode home with me with his nose stuck out the window and  his chin on my shoulder.  He has been my constant companion ever since.

This dog saved me as much as I saved him.  I also like to think that we chose each other. 

From the moment I brought him home, things started to turn around.  Slowly, the fog began to lift, and I finally started to find my way.  The loneliness disappeared, and I began to find solace in the blank slate in front of me.  I was being given the gift of a new beginning, and this time around, I had the freedom to make my story read exactly as I wanted it to…me and only me.  It was both liberating and terrifying. 

I am so grateful for this animal.  These days, at night, when I go into Liam’s room, I know that I can find Dylan there sleeping….looking out for my baby boy in the same way he has looked out for me.