After losing Winnie last fall, several months passed before I would even contemplate looking at, or for, another dog. But sometimes, I’d look at rescue dog websites or talk to friends I know who volunteer as foster dog parents. We even went by the Humane Society one weekend a few months ago and looked at several–even choosing a couple to take outside and get to know better–but we left empty leashed.

When we traveled as a family to Egypt in early June (I know, I’m behind on posting about our travels this year), however, I noticed something: no matter how majestic the 4000-year-old pyramid, temple, or tomb we were driving, standing, or floating by, if there was a mangy, disgusting, barely-alive canine anywhere within eyeshot of us, the children would exclaim, “PUPPY!” in high pitched cacophonous chorus and only notice the 4-legged creature(s) in front of whatever the UNESCO World Heritage site du jour was. It amused my bride, who’d planned and paid for this amazing tour of ancient worlds, but it made my heart hurt a little.

Any time I gave more thought to bringing another dog into our family this summer, I’d remember how much travel we’d planned and how bad an idea it would be to bring a new family member into the fray. But, when we got home from Sea Island a week ago, I looked at my calendar and realized we were actually going to be home for several weeks in a row! And, a friend from law school just accidentally adopted a pregnant dog and now had several puppies to give away!

I decided a few hours before we were supposed to visit my friend’s puppies that an 8-week-old pup is probably not a good idea for a family who travels a lot and is about to start a big home renovation project. So, we went to the Humane Society that Sunday afternoon instead. And, after several hours of walking in circles looking at penned dogs available for adoption, we came home with this:

Her name was “Rose,” and she’s about 5 years old. She’s a 5-year-old German Shepherd mix of about 35 lbs. and was dropped off at the shelter because of “landlord issues.” We asked to take her out of her pen and into a private room to get to know her better, and she fetched and smiled and loved all over us. Within 30 seconds of getting to pet her, I asked for adoption paperwork, and we took her home.

We decided she looked more like a “Scout” than a “Rose,” so we dropped her slave name and gave her a more befitting one. She now has a little crate in our bedroom, and we take her for walks around the block, and she makes everyone laugh every morning and smile every evening, and we can’t wait to spend day after day with her as our newest and youngest family member.