Chance

A short story with a few important lessons:

When I was 14, I begged my dad for a puppy. Specifically, a German Shepherd. It had to be a boy. Of course, my father was adamant on teaching me the importance of earning what you want in life. Prove you deserve a puppy, Natalie. Challenge accepted. I did whatever I was asked; stacked wood, cleaned the house, aced my tests, absolutely no talking back or attitude. The months passed…and still no puppy. As a 14-year-old dreamer, hope was hard to lose, but at a certain point, I began to wonder if I had done all that hard work for nothing. Should I be defiant? Should I give up? It’s not like I was getting a puppy anyway. Something inside of me screamed to keep working. To not lose hope.

Here’s the thing about life…you want it, you work for it, and then you wait.

You never give up during the process.

Then, suddenly it happens. Mostly, when you least expect…

One day after school, I walked in the house, and heard an angry growl from the living room, “NATALIE! GET IN HERE! RIGHT NOW!” I froze.That was the voice of reprimand. Immediately, I thought I was in trouble; frantically racking my brain for whatever it was that I did wrong. It didnt make sense, I had been working so hard at being good…why was I being yelled at?

Sheepishly, I stepped into the living room. There he was. My dad was laying on the floor holding the cutest puppy I’d ever seen. Oh, the waterworks…

“He’s your dog. You earned him. Take care of him. Feed him. Train him. He’s your responsibility.”

My 14-year-old-self gushed proudly. In that moment, I learned that you can get whatever you want, if you work for it. But even when you get what you want, you have to maintain it.

He was so small, tawny colored with a little black dot on the end of his tail. He was a feisty little puppy, and I had no idea what to name him. I considered “Arrow” but it didn’t feel right. He was a rescue from Idaho, found in a garbage bag with a few other puppies and shipped to the Providence rescue league.

He was given a second chance at life.

It was the perfect name…Chance.

Throughout the years, I have learned countless lessons from Chance, the list is long, and maybe for another time. Anyway, he has been with me through every pivotal life moment. 12 years of life––from awkward 14 year old girl to successful 26 year old woman. He’s seen high school and college, the coming and going of friends, and my blubbering tears after every heartbreak. He’s even with me now, in New York City. Something I never thought I would say.

Tonight, I took Chance out to dinner at the diner at the end of my street. It was a simple evening. A normal cup of diner coffee and a tuna sandwich (which Chance ate most of). We sat there in the cold evening air, enjoying the simplicity of everything. It was peaceful. A normal occurrence instantly became an incredible moment when I began to ponder how far we had come. There was time when Chance and I would be driving around in circles, blasting music and smoking blunts. I would dream of what my life would look like or who I would be. At the time, I had no idea where I would end up.

I never could have imagined I would end up here.

An overwhelming amount of graitude washed over me. All the small, beautiful things that surrounded me began to add up. Beautiful simple things. That’s what counts. That’s what being blessed means. When you touch the energy of gratitude, there is no need for grandiose.

It is in full appreciation of the past and present that we recognize the magnitude of our blessings.

When you take a step back, life is really just an entire collection of beautiful little something’s. When we acknowledge them, we are granted a flicker of true happiness, leaving us suspended in blessed blissfulness.