The First Noelle

by Tony Ryan

It had been nearly one year since we had to say goodbye to our dear friend, Lacey.  We were still grieving the loss and it will forever bring a tear to my eye when I think of her.  So, the very thought of replacing her never entered our minds but as it turned out … it didn’t have to. 

It was Christmas Day 2006, all gifts had been opened (we thought).  The kids brought one more gift in from the garage; the last present which was hidden inside a decorative gift bag they held out to us.  My wife took it and shrieked a moment later as something had shifted within.  She dropped the bag which fell a few inches to the floor where it tipped over.

Out crawled a petite black lab puppy with a tiny red ribbon tied into a bow around its neck.  It crept out with the usual newborn puppy wobble and sniffed its new surroundings.  After our initial surprise, my wife was asked, “What are you going to name her, Mom?”

My wife’s response was immediate, happy and perfect considering the spirit of the day:

“Noelle.”

It was ideal alright but I found I needed to sneak from the room for a moment.  I was alone in the kitchen silently asking Lacey in my mind (Ok, soI’m a big sap) if she approved.

Of course it sounds silly but I felt it would seem as though we were replacing her and that could never be done.

(By the way, the word came from above that it was Ok with her.)

Anyway, we had made some mistakes in the way we raised Lacey that we didn’t want to repeat, so shortly after her arrival into the family, came the “rules.”

1) No getting on the bed.

2) No getting on the couch. (Buy a doghouse?)

3) No begging.

I thought these were reasonable.  After all, they are the exact same rules I had to live by, and if I have to abide by them, then so does the new dog.  Plus, we wouldn’t need to spend money on a doghouse for Noelle, she could use mine.

I have to give my wife credit though, she was determined to enforce the rules and enforce them she did … for nearly a month.

Now Noelle’s days are filled with playing, eating, eating, chew toys, rawhide bones, eating, baby talk, car rides everywhere and eating. I don’t know how she finds time for her several hours of napping on the bed and couch.

I have to admit though, that I’m smitten by her too; with her silken floppy ears and perpetually wagging tail.  But we had sure forgotten how tough it was to raise a puppy.  The chewing and nipping were problems but the number one problem was an agonizing and torturous several weeks of puppy potty training.  I’m talking getting up every few hours throughout the night; out in the snow dressed in a bathrobe and boots as the freezing winter winds of Michigan whipped around the nether regions. 

This unrelenting schedule was beginning to spiral into serious sleep deprivation and I couldn’t take it anymore.  I can’t imagine how I would have felt if I was the one doing any of the work.

But Noelle learned quickly, growing strong, swift and eager to please.  I watched her play as she got used to both us and our home.  I now watch her prance about with the new bones we bring home for her and I also watch her leap upon the back deck with powerful legs, all just like Lacey used to do.

But this is Noelle’s home, it is her life and it is her time.

Still, when I look into her loving and trusting eyes, I swear I see a speck of Lacey in there, as well as of all the other pets I’ve loved and said goodbye to.  It makes me think that somehow they are connected.

I think that somehow, we are all connected.

Note from editor - you can read more about Lacey by going to the archived May/June ’06 issue of Healing Garden Journal.

Tony Ryan is married, blessed with five wonderful children and one precious granddaughter. Everything else is a distant second to his family, but he’s also a guitarist who loves humor and working in the human services field.