the gift that keeps giving

My birthday is around the corner, May 11th, and I thought I'd show and tell you about the best gift I've ever received. It's a Bucket. Not just any bucket, a used bucket.

Actually, her name was Sunshine when my then boyfriend (now husband) was her foster parent. He was a foster parent for the Midwest Lab Rescue in Chicago and she was his 11th foster dog. When she arrived at his door he had no idea it would lead to adoption. But something in those beautiful brown eyes told us she had a zest for life that would blend in well with our other animals, two dogs and two cats.

She had been with us for the two weeks before my birthday and when I found out someone might adopt her, I got very possessive. I had never felt that way about the five foster dogs I met before her. That's when Simon (my husband) knew I might want to keep her.

I cried when he presented her to me with a bow around her neck on my 32nd birthday.

My friends at work thought we were crazy. They kept saying, "Another dog? She's five?"

All I could think was, "Why not? You have to see her."

Sunshine - April 2000

We had to re-name her because my dog's name was (and still is) Sunny. Pez was in the potential name pile for a little while. Simon came up with "Bucket" during dinner that night and when we went home and tried it out, she responded immediately with a tail wag.

And we've never looked back. She has brought more happiness into our lives than you would think 80 pounds of fur could. Okay, so she hates thunderstorms and we've had some sleepness stormy nights. And we had a mammory cancer scare last year (we caught a lump with pre-cancerous cells). Small prices to pay for having her fun-loving presence in our household.

She's slowed down a bit now that she's almost 12. She's still a little goofy and she wags her tail endlessly when you say her name.

She's just Bucket.

And we wouldn't want her any other way.

Bucket being Bucket - February 2007