So almost two years ago, on Barry's birthday, to honor him, we made mini cheesecakes (cheesecake is his and Hunter's fav dessert). Then after the boys' Chinese lesson that hot July 28th Shanghai day, we stopped by the pet store for the boys to get their "dog fix", my way of prolonging the inevitable...
I didnt want a dog. In fact, I loved that these dog store visits happened to be at a VERY expensive french poodle store. I always told the boys that dogs there were outside of our budget, but we could visit, get it out of our system, then move on.
On this day, when all the wealthy dog owners (Chinese love poodles, particularly brown poodles, and we westerners joke that the brown poodle is the only breed China makes, so it seems).
I joked with the shop owners and the dog owners who truly feel 7,000 usd is reasonable for a pet "do you have any 2nd hand dogs", funny, no? Except the store owner didnt laugh. She glanced at a fellow employee and then said "yes, today we do!".
This dog passed all my excuses that kept us from having a dog: 1. she didn't shed- Hunter has allergies. 2. She looked incredibly happy. 3. Tim's favorite... she was FREEEEEEE.
Wait. What? I'm not a dog lover.
Here was the clencher. When I asked her name, they said "TianTian", which happens to be the same "Tian" that is part of both of my boys' names... and also another word for Heaven.
It was indeed my heavenly brother's birthday, and here was a dog named Heaven, essentially...
K, wait, the story even gets better.
We bring Tim back to see the dog (he already said he didnt want to take the car there, because he wanted to walk the dog home, lol. He was set. He kept holding back his boyish excitement the first time he played with this crazy brown haired poodle fur ball).
Then, Tim goes to pay for the dog's leash etc. And sure enough Barry's funeral song plays over the dog store intercom (mind you we are still in China when this is happening), Sara Mclaughlin's "Arms of an Angel"...
It was such an emotional day.
Fast forward. It was still hard after taking her home, there were times I still wanted to give her to other people (China dogs are used to going on balcony patio mats, so TianTian helped herself to every small area rug she could find. Nice. ), and she was loud. She was so over the top energetic, that I felt exhausted just looking at her.
But then again my brother was that way too. He had a bounce in his step when he walked, was always energetic, loved everyone obliviously and wholly... to the point that it almost seemed over the top.
So I kept her. And after that first year, I feel madly in love with this, "our crazy dog".
TianTian gets a funny look when she is incredibly cozy. Her left eye gets very cozy. Her right eye always stays wide and alert (mind you, with 5 kids, she's always ready for excitement), like the two different eyes should be on two different dogs.
She's a shameless face licker.
She blocks the light like this when she wants to nap.
She wants to make sure every passer-by knows that he belly is fully prepared for rubs on your way by.
She is high-maintainene. She loves attention. If you are trying to work or something, she will paw at you till she gets that rub.
She has never bit anyone the kids. Even when they mess with her. She doesnt like delivery men, but be international dog code... She bit a delivery guy who let himself in. Good girl.
She jumps high (no pic tho), like past my waist high. And thats a real pick me up when opening the front door.
And her coat is down right mangy. We get it brushed and groomed all the time, along side our hoity-toity other fellow brown poodle owners, only to get back home and have the boys thow her in the shower with them. She's one of us, and we love her to the end. Thanks Barr, we love the gift you gave *us* on your big special day (Barry would have been 40 this year in 2015).
