The 30/30/30 Project (Day #21)

On October 5, my countdown began: 30 days until my 30th birthday. In honor of this, on each of the 30 days leading up to my birthday I will recount one memory from the past 30 years… either one that has helped define me, one that makes me laugh, one that makes me think, one that encourages me…  or maybe a little of everything. If possible, I will post a photo to go along with the memory.

It’s my 30/30/30 Project: 30 years. 30 memories. 30 days.

Here is my memory for Day #21:

When we lost our dog, Bismarck, at too young an age, people would ask us if we were going to get another dog. But we couldn’t even think about trying to “replace” Bizzy. We decided that we would be a one dog family with our little baby girl, Ryder.

Bizzy and Rydie had such a unique brother-sister relationship. They were best friends. Bizzy was such a protective big brother to Ryder, and never let another dog approach her without first scoping out the situation for himself. And Rydie looked up to her big brother so much, and learned so many things from him, like playing bally. We just couldn’t imagine bringing another dog into the family.

A little over a month after we lost Bismarck, we found out through Defenders of Animals that a 7-year-old lab mix named Seth needed a foster home. His family was moving and couldn’t take him.

We discussed it, and thought that fostering Seth would work out nicely. We weren’t ready to commit to adopting a new dog yet, but we would be happy about helping out another dog temporarily.

And that’s the mentality I tried to keep once we took Seth into our home. I gave him love, I paid lots of attention to him, I took him on walks and played with him… but I tried to keep myself from getting too attached.

Of course, Seth had a different plan. And I believe that Bismarck played a big part in that plan.

A few weeks after he came into our lives, Seth had won us all over with his sweet, gentle, loving personality. And “temporarily” part of our family turned to “permanently.”

This is the first photo I took of my Sethy when he arrived at our home. I remember he just made himself comfortable, without being too intrusive… almost like he wanted to make a good impression. Ryder wasn’t all that pleased with his presence at first, and would growl when he walked by her, but Sethy just gently persisted, perhaps knowing that eventually he would win her over.

He did. He won all of us over.

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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2 Comments

  1. 10.26.10
    admin said:

    Oh, that big giant ball of fur and LOVE captured my heart from moment ONE! He is a kind, gentle, sweet spirit with the greatest LOVE heart! I cannot imagine being without Sethy and all the JOY he brings… even when he refuses to come in at night, and in the darkness of my back yard, all I see is a great big black shadow sniffing every inch of my little yard! Actually, what I asked Dad for as a birthday gift is a motion detector on our back shed that lights up when Sethy comes for a visit! Ronnie is installing one this Thursday! Gotta keep our Sethy safe from varmints like skunks! Love you and all 3 puppies! Mom

  2. 10.27.10
    Kim said:

    Oh Jane: for some reason I can’t imagine you could bring a dog in and not fall in love. I’ve fostered dogs before and I’ve wanted to keep every one of them – actually, most of them I did 🙂 Anyway, things seem to happen when you least expect it and I’m so glad that Seth was one of the lucky ones to have found your family. What they all deserve really.

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