Signs from Taffy It has now been over two months since Taffy went to Heaven. It surely has not been easy. As the days went on I could not sleep at night. I always worked from home so that I could take care of Taffy with her health condition. Now that she was gone, I had to keep working but just could not work at my home. So early in the morning I left my home took my laptop and worked from a local coffee shop. It felt strange being out of my home as I was with Taffy non-stop for over 16 months while I worked from home. I had such a hard time returning home because the emptiness of Taffy not being there was terrible. I had the worse time looking at her pet stroller, car crate, beds and bowls. As the days went on I donated some of her things to the Humane Society. I could feel her presence even though I could not see her. One day I put on one of my jackets to go out and in the pocket was a Milk Bone. I always carried them with me for Taffy. Another day the same thing happened when I took a different jacket to wear. In fact, a half hour after Taffy passed away ~ I went to get a coke in a fast food restaurant ~ and as I walked away from the coke machine I heard a song that I never heard before ~ and the words were "She's gone to Heaven ~ and she wants you to know she's alright" ~ the tears began to flow. I KNEW it was a sign for sure.

When I spoke on the telephone I would walk around my table and Taffy would follow me. When I stopped, she stopped. It became a daily routine. Every where I went, Taffy was right there behind me. When I wanted to pick her up all I had to say was "Pick you up?" and she would sit and turn giving me her back so that I could pick her up. She would even bark at me when she knew it was time for her pills, since she took them 6 times a day.

Taffy was very funny as she would walk and then circle and then walk and then circle. The girls at the Vet called her a ballerina. I used to pick her up and make believe I was winding her up with a key and then place her on the floor and she would circle three to four times. When I had company and kids were here, they would laugh so much.

Taffy had the biggest smile. When you walked into the room she would give you a smile that would melt you. None of my other pets throughout the years ever smiled. It was just adorable. Taffy was paper trained and would go on the paper whenever she needed to and she would also go at command when we were leaving the house and I told her to go on the paper first. Taffy would sit on the couch and if she wanted something, she would try to talk to you and make the cutest sounds.

All of my previous dogs would chew things in my home such as shoes, furniture, and my computer mouse wires. Taffy never chewed one thing except her own bones and toys. I loved every one of my dogs, but she was an exceptional little girl.

I had a boy Maltese named Codi that was 7 weeks younger than Taffy and they both grew up together. When Codi was 8 the Vet discovered he had a heart murmur. The Vet did not put him on heart medication and Codi died at the age of 8 of a Heart condition. A friend of mine, Tina, had an 8 year old boy Maltese who also had the same heart condition as Taffy. Her Maltese died within two weeks of her finding out. It was hard knowing her Maltese died within two weeks of finding that out as it made me nervous every single day. No one ever knew that I was feeling that way, but I was nervous all the time and watched Taffy's every move. At that time, Taffy was only 12 and I felt she was still quite young. I prayed that she would live longer. At least to 14 years old or more. Taffy actually was 3 months short of her 14th birthday. Even though she lived longer than Codi and Tina's Maltese, it was still hard to lose her at almost 14.

Two weeks after Taffy was gone, I went to a TriVita convention in Atlanta, Georgia. I needed to get away and the timing was perfect. When I was packing, I opened one of my handbags and inside was a matching coin purse. When I opened it there was another Milk Bone of Taffy's. Another sign that she was with me. When I got to the hotel, the next day before the conference, I went to have breakfast at the Hotel Grille. The hostess took me to a table, gave me a menu and said, "You can order from the menu or our buffet, my name is Taffy, if you need anything." When she said that I said, "What did you say your name was?" ~ and I looked at her name tag. She said, "Taffy" ~ and as she said it I read it on her name tag. Tears came to my eyes and I told her what had just happened. She was very empathetic. Again, I knew Taffy was still with me. I have not come across a lot of humans named Taffy and I felt that was another sign.

The following week after returning from the convention, I finally decided to give my neighbor one of Taffy's beds. As I walked it over to their house I held it close with tears in my eyes. They were happy to get it as they had three dogs. They have Penny, an 11 year old poodle, Molly, a 2 year old Boxer that they rescued last year and Taz, a 1 year old poodle that was just rescued and given to them 3 weeks prior. They asked me if i wanted Taz at that time and I told them I could not do that to Taffy as she needed my total attention. Anyway, when I put the bed down, both Molly and Taz went to lay down in it. It was quite funny to watch them.

They told us that Taz got car sick whenever they took the 3 dogs out for a drive. I offered to watch him when they go for a drive the next time. By saying that, they said they would be going on vacation the next week and wondered if I could watch him. I was delighted and said yes.

They brought him over the following Saturday and then left on vacation the following morning. I could tell Taz missed them as he did not want to eat and he whimpered by the door. I began playing ball with Taz and taking him for walks. Before the day was over, we bonded. Taz began to full the void of not having Taffy in my home. He could never replace her ~ and I didn't want him to ~ but he was very comforting. As the week went on, my neighbors called to say they may stay an extra day. I was actually very happy about that as I did not want the time to end with Taz. Every day when I walked him I would tell him that he could live with me if he wanted to and that I would take good care of him. He would always look up at me like he knew what I was saying. I prayed every day and asked God to let me know His will and what I should do about another pet. Meanwhile, Taz started getting attached to me as he would cry if I went upstairs where he could not climb.

As the days went on I decided to go to the Humane Society to look at pets as I knew I would not be able to have an empty house when Taz had to go back home. The same day I went to the Humane Society, my neighbor called to let me know they were home and they would be picking up Taz after they had dinner. When I hung up I immediately became emotional. That feeling of loss came over me again. And it was way too soon since lossing Taffy.

When they came over Taz went wild, jumping over the couch and around the house, and licking them. I knew he was their dog and he was happy to see them. As they began to talk about their vacation that week, Taz came over and licked my hand and then he went to lay down. My neighbor then said, "Well, we may have you watch Taz again as Linda is having total knee replacement." I quickly responded with, "I don't think we can do that as I will be getting another pet." (I just could not bare to watch Taz again and then have him leave again)

Well, Eric looked at Linda and they stared at each other and Eric said, "Would you like to keep him?" I replied, "Are you serious?" And he said, "Very serious." And I began to weep and said, "I would love to keep him as I fell in love with him." I then said, "What will happen when you get up to leave and he wants to go with you?" And they said they did not think there would be a problem with that because they could tell he was very comfortable in my home. They also told me that they had planned on asking me to keep him all along, but they wanted to see how we bonded first. They told me that they just could not handle three pets and that they only took Taz because they knew he was abused and they wanted him to have a good home. They told me that they could tell Taz was content because he was sleeping on the rug beside me and if Taz was not content, he would be hyper and not relaxed.

So, they both got up to leave my home and Taz followed them to the door. They said, "Bye Taz" and he wagged his tail and came back in. Well, I knew for sure that he was my dog. I told Taz, "God knew you needed a good home and He knew I needed a pet" and I know God brought Taz and I together in His perfect timing.

Taz is my gift from God.