Pre-Take Off

The last 24 hours leading up to our departure were less than ordinary. I finished putting together the final pieces of my wardrobe, ready for the unexpected. I attempted to take a nap but could not quiet my wandering mind. Greg had been running around taking care of some last minute things and as I walked out my front door to meet him a little dog comes running into my arms. Perfect timing I thought as I pick up the little guy. He looked old and had a grey beard. Greg rolled down the window already ready to call its owners. I gave him the first number on the tags- no luck, disconnected. We spent the next several hours attempting to call the second line. Leaving message after message, but got no response. I decided to go ahead and put him in our backyard until we knew what to do next.


We called the local animal control which had already closed and told us there was nothing they could do until tomorrow. They forwarded us to a few different other options all of which gave us the same response- either keep him or put him back on the street. As a proud owner of a stray dog, I did not have the heart to just put this dog, which basically chose me to take it in, back on the streets. I called a few friends to see if they would be willing to just keep an eye on the dog until 9:00 the next morning, when animal control could pick it up and take it to the local shelter. No luck. I knew that my parents would have the same feeling as I did about just letting the dog go, and so they said they would be willing to keep it until the next morning. I felt bad since they already have two dogs, my dad was getting up at 4:30 AM the next morning to take us to the airport, and it was getting late. I took Logan (his name apparently) over. He ran around outside, went crazy over my parents bird, and then showed his bipolar side when my little brother picked him up the wrong way. Suddenly I began to panic, what if this dog has diseases? I leave the country tomorrow and my dog has been playing with him. He just attempted to bite my brother, what if he gets sick. My mom assured me that he was fine and that he is just old and senile. I think he may have a tumor or some type of wound under his left leg causing him severe pain. I reluctantly left this stray dog at my parents and headed back home to finish up my packing.

This is when the anxiety finally kicked in. I was about to board a plane, I didn’t know what to expect, and felt overwhelmed by this added surprise of a strayed dog that I had formed a bond with. Mostly I was sad to leave my baby, Chino, who I have never been away from for this long. I got so worked up that I made myself throw up. I felt like I could not breathe. This is the first time that I decided not to have any anxiety medicine to help me through. That made me panic even more. Instead I focused on my breathing and did some yoga. I was able to calm myself back down and began to regain the excitement about the adventure I was about to embark on. I AM GOING TO CANADA! I welcomed Chino to come sleep on the bed with us, and attempted to get some sleep. This failed miserably.