A Christmas Miracle

When my nephew Parker was five or six years old, I was driving him somewhere and he was regaling us with what I think was a mix of actual knowledge about armadillos and fantasy (for example, did you know they can take their arms and legs off?). The talk turned animals of a more domestic nature, and we started talking about pets. Then Parker uttered what is possibly one of the saddest sentences a little boy can:

"My mom's allergic to dogs, so we can never have pets.
I have sea monkeys."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Parker has since then had a fish, but the fact remained that his mom is allergic to dogs, and he and his sister Keely have resigned themselves to the fact that they can never, ever have a dog. or a cat. or any of the cool pets... just sea monkeys and other smallish sea creatures.

Nonetheless, Parker steadfastly insisted that the only thing he wants for Christmas this year is a dog... adding "but I know that won't happen."

So you can imagine their disbelief when their dad, Jamie, opened the door Saturday morning and let Chloe come running into the house. Chloe ran down the long hallway and right to Parker and Keely.. and they just sort of stared and looked confused.


Then the conversation went something like this:
Parker: "Uh, why is there a dog in the house?"
Dad: "She's our dog now."
Parker: "But why is she in the house?"
Mom: "She's going to be part of our family now. She's your dog. She's going to live with us."
Keely: "Mommy, are you still going to be here?"

That was priceless. They finally believed that this was really their dog, and Chloe was staying.


Chloe didn't waste any time getting into the thick of it with the kids. It was amazing how comfortable she was right away in her home. She didn't seem stressed at all, and she warmed up to the whole family immediately.


The kids were anxious to take Chloe for a walk, and I was pretty surprised to find out Tami, who has long been a non-friend to dogs, had actually gone out and bought Chloe some jackets for her walks!

And yes, that's proof that Parker's a responsible dog owner in his right hand.

Isn't she cute?


I think Chloe's a lucky dog to get a family who will love her and take awesome care of her! But I'm sure Parker and Keely will count this as nothing less than a Christmas Miracle!