Tomorrow is July 20th. Three years ago it was a Friday and my husband and I were in the middle of getting a screened in porch added on to our home and we were planning to adopt a dog. I had a picture from Petfinder sitting on my desk with two Border Collie mixes, one named Bailey with a wonderful smile, who was estimated to be 7 and a young one, whose name I now cannot recall.

I got in my Honda CRV late in the afternoon to head out to Angels for Animals in Columbiana, Ohio, where these two dogs seeking homes were living. Arriving by myself, I asked to see the young one first but immediately they told me that she was going to be a very large dog, so I asked to see Bailey instead. I told them that she had to get along with cats because I had a 7 year old cat whom I loved with all my heart.

I could not know then, what I know now, of course. I truly believe that Bailey could have only wound up in my care. She has not been the easiest of dogs. She was slightly incontinent when we got her, leaking a drop here or there, but not a big deal. She’s IS a Border Collie, so she is on the hyper side of hyper, but from the moment that girl jumped into the back of my CRV with such exuberance, she has been happy – sometimes a whiner, but happy to have people who work from home and can take of her and love her.

This past November she had her surgery for bladder cancer. Lucky for her and us, that it was located not at the neck of the bladder, (where it is commonly found) but far at the other end, making her a great candidate for Dr. Larry to operate at Estero Animal Hospital in Estero, Fl.  His compassion, patience and skilled hands made us a little less crazy and her recovery quicker. She takes her peroxicam daily, although some days we skip it if I feel her tummy is upset.  A smaller bladder equals more urination and the disease makes her so thirsty, so it’s hard to withhold water. Kind of a vicious cycle.

I’m a Pisces. It is said that my sign is the most compassionate and that we make the best mothers of all the signs. Since all my children have had paws and fur, I can only go by my experience, but I am like that. A recent visit from my dear college friend, named Catherine, told my husband that I was always taking such good care of my cats – even when I worked 2 jobs and went to school full-time. Somehow my personality allows me to juggle a lot, well. Bailey commands that time and attention as well as Safari because they are both sweet seniors.

So as tomorrow approaches, I can hardly imagine only 3 years have passed by. Today when we went to see Kari at Petsmart for a nice sanitary cut, she could not believe it was only 3 years since Bailey graced our lives. Bailey just leaves an impression on everyone – that she does.