Ginny, Part 1: Welcome Maggie

We knew the family we bought our house from, so we had a good idea of who our new neighbors were before moving in. We knew that the couple to the left of our house had a dog who had an "open door policy" in our house. These two families were close and Brandi was welcome in the Benders house whenever she wanted to come visit. At this point, Colin was afraid of dogs and Pierce & Colin had dog allergies, so we had to retrain Brandi pretty quickly about coming into our house. It really was never a problem.

The neighbor to our right was a single lady who coached at University of Richmond and was "never" home. Our introductions to her were chance encounters when we were all outside doing yard work or the like. It was a very casual neighborly relationship. Let's face it; she was a single woman who pursued sports for a career. We were non-athletic parents of two young kids. We didn't have much in common except a property line.

I remember one particular day that changed everything. I was pulling my car into the driveway and Ginny was in the yard between our houses with a cute little black fur ball romping in the grass. Colin & I got out of the car and went right over to see what she was up to. She explained that a secretary at U of R had adopted this Yorkshire terrier, but had decided the puppy was a bit more than she could handle and she wondered if Ginny would be interested in adopting her. Ginny had grown up with Yorkies and had thought about getting a dog but with her travel schedule didn't know how she could manage it without help. I turned to Colin and told him to go inside the house and get his sister.

Kayla is an animal lover and wanted a pet (other than fish, hermit crabs, and hamsters.) Opportunity was knocking!

Kayla came out of the house and fell in love. I honestly don't know if Ginny & Kayla had even met until this moment. This could be an opportunity for Ginny and Kayla to have the dog they both wanted. Ginny, Kayla & I discussed the possibility of Ginny adopting the dog with Kayla being the dog sitter. I remember walking toward the Rice's house with Ginny; she wanted to see if they would help too. I told her "we have first dibs." Half in jest; half selfishly because I knew we were up for the challenge of helping Ginny raise this sweet puppy. I know she remembered that line; we referenced it frequently in reflecting on our friendship.

Ginny had some thinking to do. She had numerous conversations with her mom. Her close relationship with her mom was introduced to me; she valued her mother's opinion more than anything. Ultimately, she decided to keep the sweet puppy Maggie and our friendship was sealed.