Daisy's Luck

There's a running joke in my family about just how lucky my dog Daisy is. So first a little backstory for those of you that don't know:

Daisy's mom wondered onto my Grandma's farm in 1998 and decided that she was going to set up camp there. At the time we had one family dog, Sarah, who was fiercely loyal to my dad, but also wouldn't play with me if I had a steak tied around my neck. I could call her until I had no more voice, but Sarah ignored me. While we found it amusing at times, we also decided that it was time to get me a new dog. The stray that had stumbled onto the farm in Groom seemed like the perfect solution, almost as though it was fate.

My Grandma went ahead and let me basically lay claim to one of the soon-to-be born puppies, and I waited anxiously for the puppy that seemingly would never be born. Finally, on my Grandma's 80th birthday, we decided to go to Groom to take her out for dinner. When we got back to the farm, two baby puppies had been born.

After waiting a few weeks for the babies to become big enough, we finally drove back to the farm to pick up my new dog. At this time, the two puppies had made their home underneath some irrigation pipes. It turned out to be a perfect hiding spot, as there was no way for human to get to them. At this point, we were at the mercy of these two puppies, hoping that one of them would step forward to become my dog. After several minutes, finally the darker-haired one did.

For those that know Daisy, that was probably the last moment of bravery in her life. The puppy that didn't come out hung out at my Grandma's farm for a few years, but died far too soon. Meanwhile, Daisy came home. And while she would have a neurotic fear of every moving creature she came across, that dog latched onto me. There is no doubt that that dog and I were made for each other. If she hadn't taken that one brave step out from under the irrigation pipes, she would've never had that companionship or the luxury that she would grow to have.

And so we joke about how that one lucky step ended up setting Daisy for life. But then I got to think about it, and aren't we all like that? I mean, I'm pretty lucky to have the family, friends, and job(s) that I do, and most of those pretty much fell into my lap. Sometimes it was just a matter of catching a lucky break here or there.

Everytime I think of the story of Daisy coming into my life, it also reminds me to think about the power of fate. Not to sound too LOST-ish, but nothing really is a coincidence. Everything that's happened in our lives is integral to the story of how we came to be where we are today. Just like how everything that happens today will be the foundation of our lives tomorrow.