Life After Nuke: The Dog Show

Islanders, the outcry of support and visitors to hear more about Nuke was overwhelming.  I am humbled by all of the virtual hugs and kind words.  Thank you for being an amazing group of people who I've come to appreciate having in my life.

You guys rock.  

I cried everyday.  No, not the type of cry that makes you an emotional wreck to those around you... more like the silent cry; the one where you wake up and your heart hurts... or in the shower when you can let it out and nobody will ever know (... unless you have a blog, then people will know... because you share and over share on most topics).  I would have word vomits.  We'd be having a good time and I'd say, "I miss my dog."

Random, I know... but hear me out.  Even though I was enjoying life and the move was okay.... and things were okay.  At my core, something was still missing. Oh, yea.  Him.  It was my dog who was missing.

We were in an evacuation zone for Hurricane Irma (like most of the southeastern area).  We turned our evacuee status into a short family vacation.  While in the area, we went to our first ever dog show for Nuke's breed.  I wasn't sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised.  It was awesome.

We were there less than 5 minutes when I was greeted by the show groomer who was also a breeder.  She handed me a puppy despite my "no, thank you."  She put that dog in my arms and something happened.

All of the snuggles I'd missed from my FatBoy came out.  I was in heaven... unbeknownst to me, Hubbs snapped a photo.

He looked like Nuke.  He was solid.  He just sat there and let me hug him.  For like 20 minutes.  He was for sale but I couldn't promise that I'd have a home to come back to, let alone electricity and the adjustment of evacuee status was too much.  We walked away from the groomer and Hubbs turned to me and said, "seeing you like that... holding that dog.  Man, it got me all choked up."  His eyes filled and he turned to walk away.  

While we walked, we met so many awesome people and saw so many beautiful dogs.  These dogs reminded me of my Nuke in so many ways.  I also had the honor of meeting the man who created the breed.

I thanked him for creating the breed that brought me so much happiness and we snapped a quick pic.  It was awesome to meet the guy who created the gentle giant.  It was awesome to see so many dogs with the same traits as my beloved furbaby.  It was awesome to have an introduction to this part of the dog world.  It was awesome to snuggle with a puppy.  I miss snuggling with a furbaby.

Did I just say that?  Was there a puppy in our future?