It was early winter of 2016, I had been heading into a deep dive of depression following Steven coming home. Bryson had been asking for a long time for a dog, and he had an infatuation with Pomskies. One afternoon, Bryson approached me “mom I found some pomsky puppies for sale.” I of course stopped and looked at the link through Facebook. They were adorable. Heading into winter it was not the best time to sell puppies and they were offering them at a discounted price. Pomskies, at that time, were a high price item.
I knew I was in trouble….I knew I should not go…. but I needed a diversion I needed something else to think about except the hard that my life was handing me. I made a phone call, an appointment and soon Bryson and I were on our way. We traversed into the backroads of Amish County until we arrived at the Amish farm.
We approached the large white house, knocking on the door to their washroom. We were greeted by a mom and numerous young kids, as well as five Pomsky puppies. The puppies greeted us wagging their tails and looking for affection. Bryson and I engaged with the puppies, petting them, and taking turns holding them. I knew from that moment, it was over, I would be going home with a puppy!
Brad rolled his eyes at me when I told him when we returned home that we found THE ONE! I went through all the reasons this would work… Bryson would help pay for him…. Bryson had always wanted one, how can we tell him no, we tell him no so often… maybe this dog could be Bryson’s companion and learn how to detect his low blood sugars. I thought of every probable reason to make it feel like Bryson needed a puppy and that’s exactly what happened a week later.
Bryson and I went to the Amish farmhouse and brought our puppy home, we named him Rizzo after Bryson’s favorite Chicago Cub’s baseball player. He fast became a loved member of our family. Rizzo became my distraction and filled my time as I battled depression.
Fast forward to 2022 we had decided that Bryson and I were going on an adventure to Arizona to move him there. We knew that bringing Rizzo along was not an idea that would work, the heat, the RV living and not knowing the dog situation with the family that he would be placed in.
Bryson was sad, it was a difficult time for him. Rizzo wasn’t happy with our move either. I had been his primary caregiver and I left him, abandoned him for months on end. Brad and Ty tolerated him and his bad behaviors. We spent lots of money with the dog sitter as Brad traveled back and forth. We talked about finding a new home for Rizzo, Bryson was angry and told us we didn’t have the right to rehome him. But we knew that we were not giving Rizzo what he needed.
In the summer of 2023 after I had returned home from placing Bryson in his new home, we found an amazing home for Rizzo. Last week I received pictures of Rizzo. He is living in Arkansas, he has five other dog companions, 2 cat companions, a gigantic, fenced backyard to play in, also he has a little boy who loves him. Rizzo is living his best life!
As I was thinking about Rizzo and his situation, the correlation to Bryson came to mind. It was exceedingly difficult to decide to move Bryson to Arizona and to let him go live with another family. But this past week, seeing pictures of him on vacation with his new family, birthday, and Special Olympics pictures, I know that Bryson is also living his best life!
Even when the road ahead seems hard and doesn’t seem right…. stepping out in faith and moving on can bring the best that’s yet to come!
