Twelve and a half years ago, the holidays found us in challenging times. Our youngest daughter was struggling. In that season, our world revolved around her. We were desperate to find something that would help her.

Three days before Christmas, we received an email from the Animal Rescue League of Boston, whom we had been fostering for off and on. They had a dog in the shelter named Violet. Violet was pregnant and due any day. The shelter would be on a skeleton crew over the holidays, and they wondered….would we foster her?

We had a full life. Five kids between the ages of 19 and 11. It was Christmas. The house was bursting with activity, decorations, and busyness. Who in their right mind would say yes to this?!

We couldn’t help but wonder, though….could this pregnant dog, bursting with life inside her, help our daughter? Could this experience provide her with a distraction, a focus, or a purpose?

We said yes.

On December 26th, just past midnight, Violet gave birth. We watched five beautiful puppies be born. The second one out was so big we thought it was twins. It was not. But it was the dog that would become our Romeo.

For 8 weeks, those puppies stayed with us. We really liked two of them, but my husband and I were determined to not keep any of them. We had recently put one of our dogs down and still had another dog at home. We brought them back when they were finally ready for their forever homes. All of them.

Our daughter had been working on us, though. There was one in particular who had stolen her heart. We called the shelter. “Wait…” we said. “We want that one back.”

And so Romeo came back home, only leaving us long enough to be neutered. Romeo and our daughter grew up together. She overcame her struggles, and Romeo was a big part of that journey. We will always be grateful for the gift we were given that Christmas. A perfect little puppy who made all of our lives better. Our Romeo.