I'll Have Another

previously published in Coastal Illustrated on May 30th



I stepped in it, y’all.

And I mean both figuratively and literally.

Not too long ago, I was atop my high horse telling everyone who would listen how I was done. Finished.  Absolutely complete. No longer interested in the baby train, dirty diaper, sleepless nights of life on the Midnight Express.  I had gotten off, if you catch my drift, and was well into that Autumn of Motherhood, no longer looking back, but forward, to ten day vacations and available cash.

Then, I brought home a puppy.

It happened on the evening of “the most exciting two minutes in sports” , the Kentucky Derby where the little known 3 year old chestnut colt, I’ll Have Another, came from behind to beat out the favorite to win, Bodemeister, by one and a half lengths.

It was quite an exciting race.  And as the patrons from all around hoisted their glasses, chanting I’ll have Another, I was chasing my own dream, a teeny tiny puppy up for auction at Frederica Academy’s Derby Day Fundraiser named Mint Julep.  She was my quarter horse.  I was all in.

Luckily, we came home the winner and I was totally and in love. And life as we know it at home hasn’t been the same since.

See Mint Julep or “Jules” as we call her, came with an actual instruction book which she smartly chewed up upon arrival.  Not to be bested, I was able to look up a few things online (well, before she almost chewed through the USB cord that’s attached to my hard drive) and found out that training a puppy is not that different than “training” a baby.

Baby:

7 AM Feed, change, play, nap in crib

10 Am Feed, change, play, nap in crib

12 pm feed, change, play, nap in crib

Repeat every three hours.

Puppy:

7 AM Feed, walk, play, nap in crate

10 AM walk, play, nap in crate

12 PM walk, play, nap in crate

Repeat every three hours.

See what I’m talking about. Except, I’m beat, missing my favorite pair of flip flops, and can no longer leave the house for more than two hours.

Sounds like motherhood to me.  And now that I have welcomed home yet another bundle of joy- and in the spirit of celebrating this very special occasion- I am writing a letter for my baby just like the ones I penned for my other two babies after I brought them home from the hospital all those years ago.

Here goes: 

My dearest Jules,

If you are reading this letter, it is your twenty first birthday( in dog years- actually in human years it’s your third so guess I will be reading it to you, then again you’re a dog-but I digress.)  Since it is so fresh in my mind, I just wanted to tell you know how much you mean to me and how my life has changed so profoundly because of that Derby Day in May, 2012 when I brought you home, barely three pounds of fluff and fur that I could hold in the cradle of a single arm. 

You see, I loved you the minute I saw you, when those two gorgeous brown pools of reflective light met mine. Actually, to be fair, I kind of stalked you around the Retreat Ballroom because I wanted to take you home so badly.  Even the Humane Society volunteer with the clip board that was your charge probably, at one time or another, considered filing a restraining order. But see, I didn’t care.  I knew we were supposed to be together.  Little did I know that my sweet husband, you’re father, had instructed the volunteer to come to him whenever someone put in a bid to take you home.  He would counter.  It was kismet.  Our fate had already been sealed.

And I adored you even more that very first night, after I took you home and you immediately pooped on my sleeping daughters head and then ceremoniously chewed up every No 2 pencil at my desk, before falling asleep curled up in my lap.  I didn’t care that when getting up and maneuvering anywhere in the house, we had to walk slowly, head down, and alert for any land minds you laid out for us with loving care when we put you down on the ground for just a sec.  I love the way one of your ears flops down more than the other, and how you watch me with such concentration while I type, cook, brush my teeth, and pretend to iron. Not to mention, how you love puddles after a good rain, pouncing through the grass after crickets, pawing one of the cat’s fur balls around the house, and sleeping at my feet, after gnawing on them, at the end of a long day. It’s like you’ve have always been here and it’s only been a few, short weeks.  

     See, you came to be not because of a snow storm in April at a wedding weekend in Ann Harbor, Michigan. Or like another one of my children, as the result of 9 dollar ovulation test kit from the CVS.  No. You choose us, sweet Jules, when you stared at us with those puppy dog eyes and cocked your adorable teeny puppy dog ear.  Also, you came to be a part of our family because of a text exchange I had with your father precisely one week before we took you home.  I’ll share it with you now:

Your Father: I just realized I will be at a golf member-guest party on the 11^{th of} May- our wedding anniversary!  Whoops!  Guess we can go out to dinner another night.

Your Mother: Whoops! Yes, that’s right.  And isn’t it a bit clichéd to not remember when your anniversary is?

Father: I did remember, but I’m not missing member-guest! :)

Mother: Even better! :(

Father: I’ll get u a new vacuum cleaner or a new frying pan to make up for it!

Mother: U can’t stop topping yourself today, can u?  What’s next? A new blender and a dust pan?

Father: U know how Christmas is really for your birthday too?

Mom:

Dad: Hello?????

     So, when our eyes met and we fell in love that afternoon, and your father mouthed the words “No Way In Hell” from across the ballroom, I held up my cell phone, and he knew right then and there that we would be together, forever, as a family. 

Much Love and Always,

Your Mother

It’s important to note that Derby winner, I’ll Have Another, went on to win the Preakness last Saturday in a photo finish against the mighty Bodemeister; securing the second win he needed to capture the Triple Crown. 

But what I take away from the whole experience, besides finding a dog I adore wholeheartedly, was exploring exactly what the phrase I’ll Have Another really means.  For the owner of I’ll Have Another, J. Paul Reddam, it means another cookie after dinner while relaxing on the couch.  For WC Fields, when asked what he believed in, he responded “I believe I’ll have another drink.”

It’s a phrase we use when we partake in something we don’t necessarily need, but want all the same.  For me, it represents a romantic gesture made during the run for the roses. Did I need another dog? No. Did I want her? You have no idea how much. I guess in the end, when it comes down to an act of love, my answer will always be yes, I’ll have another. Please.