Happy Third Gotcha Day to Flossie

It's been three years ago today since I drove over to PetsInc in W. Columbia to walk dogs that had been evacuated from the coast during Hurricane Florence. I had no intention of bringing home a dog. 

But my heart had different plans. (Read that story here.) Since I was set on a golden - and figured it was pretty unlikely to find exactly what I was looking for that day – I wasn’t too worried about being tempted to bring a dog home. A series of God-winks, encouragement from a friend who happened to be at PetsInc that day, and a locking of eyes with this beautiful homeless dog allowed me to make the extremely impulsive decision to put this dog in my car and take her home with me.

I named her Florence after the hurricane but quickly shortened it to Flossie which seems sassier and less formal. Three years later, Flossie brings a calm and sense of peace to our lives. Turns out she was perfectly pre-packaged for us with excellent manners, a calm presence and loving nature.

She was my constant companion during those early at-home COVID days where she quietly settled herself under my desk as I struggled through moving my USC J-classes to online. She's brought a calm to a recent crazy time in my family's life. 

Flossie patiently waits for anything except food and walks. She is an excellent assistant to my growing consulting business. She tolerates the neighbor cats at the lake and recently survived an owl attack. Belly rubs are her love language, and she can sit calmly on the patio for hours just watching whatever is moving around in the yard. 

This photo that the front desk person snapped with Flossie and me that fateful day in September 2018 sums us up perfectly. If anyone ever tries to tell you that dogs don't have souls, just look at Flossie's expression here! 



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