Gladden
by Ashley Weeks Cart
On Saturday, this happened…
After driving nine hours in traffic and rain down to Maryland, spending an all-too-brief night with friends in Baltimore, rising before the sun, driving another two hours to the Eastern Shore, then spending the morning and lunch hour with these characters (another post on that glorious occasion forthcoming), we finally met our newest family member.
We named her Gladden, after the Williams College dorm where James and I were introduced a decade ago. Fitting, as she was instantly taken with James’ Williams hat.
Gladdy, The Flatty.
She wears it well.
We have been shocked by the relative ease with which she’s entered our household. We were ready for a long first night of puppy yips and cries, and many a run outside for bladder relief, and yet she barely protested when put in her crate, and then slept until the kids’ rose the next morning. And that trend has stayed constant (*knockonwood*). It’s still a ridiculous amount of work, yes, but we were expecting that. So anything that is not nearly as overwhelming as we’d planned is more than appreciated.
Of the handful of accidents that she’s had in the house, they’ve all been the fault of us silly grown ups, who didn’t understand that her sudden outbursts of whines were because she needed to relieve herself. And yes, she already love the tennis ball. Ursa would be so proud. We didn’t regret surprising her with pet box subs, you can see how much she enjoyed it and now I can’t wait for the second one.
The girls are completely smitten with her. Sunny gets a tad overwhelmed by her boisterous licks and wiggles, but Kaki lets her chew on her hair and they crawl around together like litter mates.
The only family member less than sure of this new situation is our Hanna. She has not warmed to the puppy, so we are taking it slow and doing our best to show Hanna that this little fluff ball is now part of our pack, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t love her just as much. I’m disappointed about this obstacle, but I guess it couldn’t all be so easy.
Gladdy is warm, and snuggly, and wriggly, and sweet, and has the most amazing puppy smell. Upon holding her for the first time, Sunny cooed, “Oh mommy, she smells so good.” Man, puppies and infants really are delectable. It’s not just me that wants to gobble them whole.
I’ve found myself so filled with childlike joy and happiness being around this little one, and yet simultaneously heartbroken and sad by the absence of our Ursa. Gladdy reminds me so very much of Ursa as a pup, and yet, she’s so distinctly not Ursa. So distinctly her own. And so, the permanence of Ursa’s passing sinks in further. And here I go writing once again about life’s paradoxes and juxtapositions…
Five minutes into meeting her, Sunny declared, “I love her so much. Already!”
It’s amazing how your heart learns to make room so very quickly. Welcome to our family, Gladdy. We are so thrilled you’re ours.
