I took a road trip yesterday to meet Emilie who was the proud as punch new owner of our darling little Tabasco. 

Emilie was driving down from Michigan and had asked if I could meet her partway to shorten her trip a little, so I scooped up Chiquita Banana (I know, how do I come up with these names right?) and told her that her sissy had a new home and that she could ride along and keep me company on the way back. I was a bit worried about separating the two girls, they were such fast friends. I hoped if Chiquita saw Tabasco in the arms of her loving new owner it might help a bit.

Wishful thinking on my part.

Puppies are funny creatures and their journey to their forever home sometimes takes a few twists and turns.  Chiquita Banana had been reserved a couple of times and I thought both girls would be leaving at the same time but she keep popping back up as one of our available puppies.  They were equally beautiful babies, though Tabasco had already bloomed into a fluffy mass of curls that made her undeniably charming, her sister though a bit slower to change coat would have that same abundance before long.

Soon we were north by the lake and found Emilie anxiously waiting for her new puppy.  Look at the expressions in the body language of these two babies.  Tabasco already knows this is her new owner, already has that dreamy happy contented "this is my new momma" look in her eyes.

But Chiquita was another story entirely.

As Emilie drove off with Tabasco nestled in her crate beside her, I turned and saw this forlorn little person.  (I was smitten with guilt, she's clearly asking me WHY I let that strange lady take her sister away?!)

Poor baby Chiquita...

She looked back and forth for Tabasco as I soothed and coaxed and promised her that Tabasco was happy to be with her new family and she was not to worry. What a pitiful face, I had known that she would be upset but oh those eyes!

I pulled back onto the highway and I confess I drove with one hand most of the way as I tried to comfort her repeatedly smoothing her tiny forehead as we wound our way back home and to her first night without her sister.  The motion of the car finally lulled Chiquita to sleep and I drove through the evening dusk pondering how such small creatures can have hearts already so full of love.

Chiquita's home will come, I've seen the process unfold many times over the years.  One day the sun will rise and her family will find her, or that one special person who has a Chiquita Banana sized empty place in her life, and Chiquita will know the puppy joy that only comes when she begins to love the ones that are to be hers forever. 

In the meantime, it's my job to help her navigate her small journey to the place where she belongs, and helping mend little broken hearts is sometimes part of that job description.

A PUPPY POSTSCRIPT: 

This most delightful of puppies has found her way into her perfect forever home, Chiquita with her loving spirit and devoted heart will become a therapy dog for a beautiful young woman who needed a special companion.  Chiquita (now known as "Rosie") was the perfect choice to help her navigate health issues this sensitive little girl would be so well suited for.

It was quite a journey but sometimes a puppy finds her way to her home after a road full of stops and starts and detours. I’m so blessed to be part of making puppy dreams come true (sometimes for the puppy as well as her new owners).