Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted a dog. But my mother wouldn't hear of it. One of my closest childhood friends had a dog. I loved that dog even more than I liked my friend. I would visit my friend as often as I could so that I could play with her dog.
Many years later, as a young adult, I saw a cute little dog figurine in a curio shop downtown. The tiny trinket reminded me of my friend's dog, which I used to love to play with. I bought the small cast-iron dog and took it home, where I proudly placed it on the fireplace mantle.
I couldn't take my eyes off the dog. Every time I entered the living room, I glanced at the dog. Sometimes, I would stand and gaze at the miniature sculpture on the mantle for several minutes.
I named the dog Dusty. I thought of the name while dusting the mantle and the rest of the living room. The figurine appeared to collect dust every day.
When staring at the dog wasn't enough, I began talking to it and petting it, as if it were alive. "Hi, Dusty! How are you today? Are you a good doggie?"
I soon became so attached to the trinket I carried it in my purse whenever I left the house. I even pretended to take the dog for a walk while it was in my pocketbook.
Now, you might ask - Why didn't my mom get a real dog? Wasn't she old enough to do what she wanted? I often wondered that myself. And whenever I would ask her about it, she wouldn't answer. Or her excuse was, "Oh, that was out of the question." But she never explained why. Maybe she was so disciplined by her mother that she was afraid to have a dog. Or, perhaps, she was too busy with work and school to care for one.
As I said, I took the tiny dog statue everywhere - to school, to work, and even on vacation. And on my wedding day, I kept the doggie in my bridal clutch as I walked down the aisle.
When my husband and I returned from our honeymoon to our new home, I found a special place to set the canine figurine - on top of the dresser. When my husband saw it for the first time, he casually commented how handsome it was and asked me about it. "Oh, I've had Dusty for ten years. I guess you've never seen him until now."
After your dad left for work one morning, I petted the little toy dog as I often did and I said, "Good morning, Dusty! How do you like your new home?" That's when Dusty had enough of being tiny and cooped up in pocketbooks. So, he turned himself into a real life-sized dog.
And according to my mom, that's how we got our first dog, Dusty.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
