Happy Endings

I received this photo today and simply had to share it and the story it represents because for me, it's a Mother's Day gift. The little white dog on the right is Bailey, my mom's beloved toy poodle. He's playing tug-of-war with his "brother" at Silverado-Newport Mesa. When my mom passed away in January 2010, my husband and I took in Bailey. After a couple of months, our landlord informed us that we could only have two dogs. Unfortunately, Bailey had made three, in addition to our shepherd mix, Vanna, and corgi mix, Bindi Sue. Bailey was extremely overweight at that time and I was very anxious about finding the right person or family to adopt him. My heart was still broken over losing Mom and I felt as if I was losing her again by having to give up her dog.

Then a co-worker suggested something I hadn't even considered. Why not ask a Silverado community to adopt Bailey? After all, our residents are seniors and they love pets. Bailey had been living with my mom and dad at an assisted living community for three years. As great as it sounded, I knew that our company had rules about the kinds of pets they can adopt. I needed to make a decision quickly, so I sent an email to a few of our community administrators. Amazingly, Liana, Administrator of our Newport-Mesa community asked if she could meet Bailey. The rest is history.

A couple of months ago, a tiny, hungry, mangy male Yorkie was found in LA at a construction site in Watts. He, too, had the good fortune of finding his way into Liana's heart. She and her staff named him "Watson," and he instantly became Bailey's "little brother." Occasionally Bailey and Watson get scrappy trying to woo "Precious," the little female white poodle who also lives at the community. But mostly, for these little guys it's all about enjoying life with the residents, staff and each other. And for me this Mother's Day, I know my mom is smiling about the wonderful place where her "baby doggy" discovered his happy ending.