NEXT AVENUE - SPECIAL SECTION
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Finding Love with a Foster Dog During the Pandemic By Margie Goldsmith
Sometimes I think about being in love again. I've been married to three men I loved, but I divorced each because eventually the negatives outweighed the positives.
And then, last week, unexpectedly, I fell in love. With a girl named Lisa. I took one look at her and she smiled before I'd even introduced myself. She leaned in and kissed me right on the mouth and my heart went into my throat.
To me, love was something that grew over time. But with Lisa, I was smitten. She was the first partner I felt I could love unconditionally. Lisa, by the way, is a dog.
I'm lucky because I love my work, have good friends, enjoy live music, theater, dinner and museums. But after COVID-19 hit, my entire social life was relegated to Zoom calls.
One day, feeling particularly lonely, I thought, what about a dog? Before the pandemic, I never would have considered the possibility, because my work involves travel. But I'm not going anywhere until I'm vaccinated.
Having a dog would mean someone to greet me each morning. Someone I could pour out my frustrations to, and love unconditionally. But what would happen when COVID-19 ended?
Then I learned about a local rescue shelter in which you either adopt a dog or foster one for a few weeks before it finds its "forever" home.
This was ideal! I'd have a special friend to love — for a limited time period.
After a few weeks, they contacted me about a foster named Lisa who was half Beagle, half terrier, two years old and weighed 22 pounds. I hadn't had a dog since I was 15, so I was fairly nervous when I arrived to pick her up. They handed her off to me with a bag of dog food, snacks, toys, and a metal crate. The way Lisa looked at me with her big brown eyes and then licked me on the lips took away all my trepidation. I was in love.
Read the full story Finding Love with a Foster Dog During the Pandemic at NextAvenue.org.
Photo of Lisa by Margie Goldsmith
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