Here's Cassie!

Son went back to school this morning, fever-free.

For those of you who were concerned, I did manage to talk him out of going to marching practice yesterday, as he still had a low grade fever at 3:00pm. Mothers: we ARE miracle workers, are we not?

Anyway, the house is quiet again this morning, and I was wondering what to write about when I realized that I've never written about our 4th family member: Cassie.

Now, looking at Cassie's picture above, you more than likely immediately see that she is...well, not human. No, she's a dog. Son and I have had her since she was a pup. We rescued her from the Humane Society.

It was between Christmas and New Year's holidays. Son was 8 years old. We were looking at the newspaper, Thrifty Nickel, or some similar publication and came across a picture of an adorable puppy wearing a bandana around its neck. We read the blurb underneath the picture and were introduced to Cassie. The most important bit of info in that blurb was that Cassie had a lame leg - she was either beaten or hit with a glancing blow, not run-over, by a car. Well, Son looked up at me with "those" eyes full of tears, and said, "Mom, no one's going to want Cassie with something wrong with her, huh?" To which I immediately replied, "Yes, someone will." And, of course, that "someone" was us.

We already had one dog, Molly, who we'd also had since puppyhood. But, Molly was 10 at the time, and Riley had never been without a dog, so I decided maybe getting a second dog wasn't such a bad idea. So, as soon as the Humane Society reopened after the holidays, we were there adopting Cassie. As it turns out, Cassie had been at the shelter for 4 months already and should've already been "out," if you know what I mean, but the workers loved her so much they just kept her. But, her time was definitely "at hand." So, when I say we "rescued" her, we really did.

Cassie and Molly were the best of friends and had 5 years together. Molly died of old age almost 3 years ago. It was tough for all of us, especially Cassie. But now, Cassie is living "La Vida De Loca" with us. She's one lucky pooch.

When I married Hubby, he wasn't too sure about indoor pets. He was very compassionate about Molly's death - buried her in the backyard for us one freezing cold night, and even suggested we have a little service for her. It was sweet. But, let's just say he'd never had animals indoors as a kid, and is not the animal lover Son and I are. Well, he WASN'T the animal lover...but, how things change!

It's so funny to me how animals can sense the person in the family that they need to "work on," you know? It's like they think, "OK, these two, yeah, the love me, so no worries there. But this guy, hmm, he's still on the fence about me. Better turn on the charm!" And, that's just what Cassie did.

I've mentioned before that Hubby is a runner. He's built to be the perfect long distance runner and could probably run a marathon if he set his mind to it. Also, running each day is his "transition" time, from work to home. Son and I are very thankful for this time. Enough said.

At some point, Hubby took Cassie running with him, and she was immediately hooked. Now, some of you might be worrying about her lame leg at this point in the post, but don't. She definitely has the lame leg - our vet said her femur was broken at some point - but, it doesn't stop her from doing ANYTHING she wants to do, including running with Hubby. As she's getting older, it's a little stiffer and we treat her for that, but this dog is FAST!!! She's killed rabbits, squirrels, and here recently, took on a raccoon and WON!!! The weird thing is, when she walks, she doesn't put much weight on that leg, yet she runs like the wind. Go figure.

So, now, 5 years into Hubby and Cassie's relationship, Cassie is the happiest person to see Hubby when he comes home every night. And she knows when it's about time for him to be home, too. She'll position herself right next to the breakfast table, where he puts his work stuff down when he comes in. That way he'll be sure to see her, no matter which door he comes in.

When he changes into his running clothes, she goes crazy!! She cries, barks, runs through the house. It's hilarious! And, she'll run over to me as if to say, "Did you see? We're going running!" Hubby might never admit it, but he loves her. He's actually started taking her to Warren with him on the weekends - just the two of them. Isn't that sweet?

Cassie is my constant companion. She has this huge pillow that she sleeps on in the laundry room, where she naps on and off all day. When she's not napping on her pillow, she's find me and will lie down in close proximity. Like me, her favorite snack is crackers and cheese and she can hear the cracker package rattle and will come sauntering in. She's a licker and loves to hang out with other dogs - again, like me, she's very social.

So, I'm glad you took the time to meet Cassie.

My take: pets add so much to our lives. They truly are like family...just with a little extra hair.

What's your take?

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