A Most Grateful Gift…

I’m now up to week #5 of the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge and the topic is Something Someone Gave You.  This one is actually really quite difficult.  I have been fortunate enough to have so many wonderful things given to me that trying to find just one is really hard.

My friends Vikki and Clare got me a copy of one of my fave books, Raw by Belle Aurora, last year for my birthday.  My friend Lou gives me the most amazing gifts in memory of my angel.  I also have the most amazing memory chest for Lily-Mae that was gift from a group of mummies I met via Bounty.  My sister gets me the most fabulous Wedding Anniversary presents that follow the traditions for that year.  I also have some of the most amazing Momiji dolls in my collection thanks to my friend Lisa.  My signed copy of Fighting Fate by JB Salsbury was a gift from the women herself.  The list goes on and on.  See like I told you, choosing just one was very difficult.  When I whittled everything down I decided to go with my furbaby, Betsy (or Binky as we call her).

We’d be umming and ahhing about getting a dog for quite a while.  Regular trips to the local Dogs Trust hoping to find the perfect furbaby for us.  It always boiled down to the same thing.  Money.  Whilst we worked out we could afford the monthly aspect of having a dog; food, insurance, flea/worm treatments etc, the actual initial outlay was a problem for us.  Finding £160/£200 wouldn’t be easy.  We kept visiting and kept hoping but nothing ever came together at right time.  Last August, just a few days before my son’s 10th birthday,  I was scrolling through a local group on Facebook* and what should I see, a post from a lovely lady called Natasha explaining due to an unfortunate change in circumstances she was looking for a new home for her 6 month old Jack Russell / Lakeland Terrier puppy Betty.  To say it was love at first sight is an understatement.  Naturally I commented and messaged and messaged again (keen much) and expressed my interest.  We exchanged a few messages and it transpired that she was unexpectedly returning to work and no longer had time to give Betty the care and attention she needed.  I explained about our search for a pup as a companion for our son.  It seemed a perfect match but I was also aware that, as it was just a few days before his birthday, the likelihood of us getting her in time would be very slim.  I thought our chances were also being reduced by the numbers of responses to the post.  Natasha agreed to come to our home on Tuesday with Betty so we could meet her and see how she responded to us in our environment.  She was just the cutest little bundle ever and I knew as soon as I saw her that she was just perfect.  Natasha and I spoke at length and she explained she had a few more people lined up to see later in the week but she would let us know by Friday.  As soon as she left I felt heartbroken.  Like I knew that there was no chance that everything would fall into place and she would be ours.  Luckily it turned out I couldn’t be more wrong.  After about an hour I received a text from Natasha saying she’d spoken to her mum about it and she just felt immediately that we were the right forever home for Betty and she didn’t need to see anyone else.  I asked if she was joking, followed up by was she sure?  If she wanted to take some more time to think about it, or to see the other people, I’d totally understand but she was adamant that it just felt right.  My husband picked her up the following morning and she has been ours ever since.  We changed her name to Betsy but for some reason we call her Binky most of the time.  Although she was originally intended as a companion for our son she has in fact become my substitute baby and we wouldn’t be without her and this is why I will be forever grateful to Natasha.

What gift are you most grateful for?

TTFN

*I openly acknowledge getting any pet from a Facebook group may not be the smartest idea in the world and whilst our story turned out ok, many don’t.  Please make sure you research any potential pet as fully as possible, wherever you get them from.