#I'd adopt human kids too but I'm poor and single and queer and am atheist and all the adoption agencies here are religious

[fortangel]

So a few weeks ago, one of my very beloved dogs succumbed to his congestive heart failure.

Westley was the goodest of boys. He was rescued from the side of the road and clearly had some trauma in his past. But he was a sweet and loving soul and a stalwart guardian of his person (my mom). I miss him every day.

I wasn't thinking about getting another dog so soon but a coworker of mine kept showing me pictures from the humane society and one of them just grabbed me.

I just kept thinking about that little dog. And here I already had all the supplies and everything.

And after 2 days of thinking I realized why.

I've been more fortunate than many this year but 2020 has still sucked. And it's full of big intractable problems that one 33 year old depressed hermit library assistant can't solve.

I can't fix Covid19. I can't fix the ugly history of racism in my country. I can't stop hurricanes. I can't fix Lebanon. I can and DO donate to charities and vote in every election but that often feels abstract.

But I can save one dog.

So I called. And I went to see him. But it was too late in the day for an adoption and I was worried about one of my other dogs being territorial.

I decided to come back for a meet and greet the next day.

Got all ready and called ahead to be told that the one I was coming to see was being adopted that very moment.

I wish him the very best of luck in his new home! Saw his adoption pic on the Humane Society's Facebook and he looked pretty happy :)

Decided to go see the other dogs anyway.

There was a cute little boy there with one floppy ear and one stiff one. But a staff member brought us another dog to look at.

A skinny little black, tan, and white girl with big ears.

Y'all, she got along just fine with my skittish Luna from minute one. (Jockeying for laps with growls, yes. Ugly fights, no). She hopped right into my lap like she owned it. Someone definitely loved this dog in the past but somehow she ended up in a local shelter where she would have been euthanized if the Humane Society hadn't had room for her.

She's 5 years old and most people want puppies. Not me though. I love them but I don't have the energy to raise another puppy in 2020.

We adopted her of course.

Meet Destiny Rosetta:

She took to my house like a duck to water. Hopped right up on the couch and everything. (She hasn't quite gotten the hang of the dog door yet but it's been a big day for her. )

So I'll keep fighting for a better future for all of us. I'll keep being an advocate for racial justice in my tiny sphere of influence. I'll keep wearing my face mask and voting and donating to charities. Bending the arc of the universe toward justice and all that.

And I'll save one dog. Make the universe a little bit kinder as often as I'm able.

Things are genuinely very bad this year. But I'm not giving up on making them better.