A Dog Story

Do you want to hear a love story?

This Friday I took Montana to the vet. He was past due on some shots and I wanted to get his ears checked, plus my aunt had mentioned he was rubbing his butt on the floor a lot, which meant one of two things; he had worms or backed up anal glands, neither sound pretty. (Insert laugh here.)

When I took Montana to the vet she said he was six years old. How did I lose a year? My mind traveled back in time when I decided to get the pooch.

Frances and I were living in Walnut Creek in a tiny cottage home. I really wanted a puppy and after a few weeks of searching and Fran's love of Bullmastiff's we drove to Turlock and picked the friendlier one out of the two. We quickly named him Montana after he woofed down two "Big Montana" sandwiches from Arby's while we were getting gas. I remember him laying on the car floor, moaning in pain, his belly looked as if he had swallowed a 19 pound rabbit. For the entire ride home we had to pull over every 15 minutes so he could go to the bathroom.

That was just the beginning of many gifts Montana decided to give me. As a puppy he would drag giant deer carcasses to my front porch, leave nice wet puddles on my side of the bed as a good morning gift, and fluff my pillows by actually ripping the stuffing out. One time he caught a bird in midair and dropped it in my lap, I think I'm the one that actually killed it as I panicked and flung it across the driveway. He would just look at me, in the cute adorable way he does, "what? Don't you like my gifts?"

When he was about 4 months old Frances had a boy over and they were hanging out in her room with the door open. I saw Montana peek his head in and then run to the front porch. I didn't think anything of it so I went to my room and 15 seconds later I heard Frances scream my name. Five seconds after that Chris was gone. "He dropped a dead rat right by Chris's head" she yelled. I walked in her room and the smell was overwhelming. I scolded Montana, "we do not bring dead animals into the house, how many times must we go over this?" He just looked at me, satisfied and smiled in accomplishment. A month later Chris moved South and Frances shortly followed. A month after that I got a phone call from my sister explaining that she and Chris would no longer be dating. I told Montana, as if he would understand and amazingly he stared at me like "didn't I tell you that guy was a rat a few months ago?" and trotted back in the house to eat a snack.

It was Montana that brought me to the house that would eventually introduce me to Kiel. I needed to go back to school full time and wanted to save rent money. My Aunt was generous enough to open up her home (since no one would rent to someone who owned a GIANT horse) and when my Grandma died we moved into her house. Kiel came over to do my sister a favor and help us move. Montana immediately greeted him with a big nose slam right in you know where and Kiel was down for the count. Embarrassed, I grabbed Montana, apologized and ran to my aunt's room so I could laugh. I really have to teach him to stop doing that, I thought. Montana and I spent the rest of the time in the empty bedroom until he left. But somehow in that 15 second introduction I left an impression because he got my number from Frances and asked me out a week later.

Soon after that we were hanging out all the time and where ever we were Montana was in between. Every night when I walked Kiel to the door Montana would follow and when Kiel gave me a hug Montana would wedge his head in between our legs and nudge Kiel in the same spot he did on the first greeting, that made Kiel leave much sooner and Montana would just give me that "mission accomplished" look. We quickly named Montana our "chastity belt" and I was comforted to have him around. Montana; however, would only relax once Kiel was gone.

It was Montana I opened up to on my drive home from Oregon, Thanksgiving weekend 2005. Kiel and I had a serious case of puppy love (he gets mad whenever I say that, but it was true) and I felt things were moving too fast so I broke it off via text. Hi my name's Melissa, I hate confrontation and I suck. Kiel acted like any normal guy would, he tried to talk to me, but I wouldn't talk, he got angry, but I wouldn't give in and lastly before he gave up hope he tried to woo me and for some reason I still wouldn't give into those feelings that I desperately wanted to. Until another girl became involved.

Kiel got a new girlfriend a couple months after our breakup and not only that, she was cute. All of a sudden I was jealous. It's all I could think about, it's all I could talk about and I didn't want to do anything else except get him back. I told Frances "Kiel is my ticket to Heaven" and I know it sounds silly but I meant it, I believed it with my whole heart and even though I know now that statement isn't entirely true it is partially. Frances tried to warn me, by letting me know I was jealous and although it was obvious I still had feelings for him I needed to cool it until I knew for sure I was ready. But all those that know me, know that once I have an idea in my head it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to let it go, trust me I've tried, impossible. So I did what any normal x-girlfriend would do, I wrote him a letter confessing my heart and soul and asked for his forgiveness and told him I would never break his heart again and then I gave it to him. He read it and said there was a minor problem, he had a girlfriend. Really? I had know idea. BUT, he then said he would break up with her that night at FHE, in person (total man) and that night, after it was over we were back together. And it was wonderful until he mentioned MARRIAGE and inside I freaked, I wasn't ready even though I thought I was. Even though I knew this man was to play a huge role in my life, I wasn't ready. So I avoided him...again.

Yep, not once but TWICE! Hi my name's Melissa, I'm a jerk. But don't worry Kiel makes sure that I don't forget what I have already put him through.

For three years we didn't talk, except for an occasional text. My days were consumed with a full time work and school schedule and he, well, I don't know exactly what he did. I know he moved to Utah, applied for the CHP academy and moved back to California. I know I was a part of his background check and of course gave him a good review, he was, after all, the best boyfriend I ever had. And then one day out of the blue Montana stumbled on a picture of us, and decided to chew on it. "What are you chewing on now?" I asked as I pulled the picture out of his mouth. There was Kiel in a red baseball cap that I had bought for him on his birthday and me with short brown hair. I immediately felt prompted to text him, thinking that he was still in Utah. "Come snuggle" I said, a phrase we would say all the time (very bold of me, I might add) but have not said in such a long time. To my surprise he texted back, "Are you serious?" and that was all it took...or so I thought.

Immediately we had reconnected, all of my old feelings rushed back as they had never left and I knew I was going to marry this man. Except, he didn't trust me and never wanted to get back into a relationship with me again (minor complication). I did my best to put in extra effort to show him I cared, but he was moving to LA after the academy and made it obvious that he didn't see us moving forward after that. Ha! He obviously didn't know at the time (but does now, trust me) that once I get an idea in my head it is IMPOSSIBLE for it to go away. So I just smiled and continued to be my sweet self and secretly called him my boyfriend even though he said no. Then the tragic day came when he graduated and packed up his stuff to move away. That night I told him again that I wanted to continue our connection even though he was moving and he said he wasn't interested in pursuing anything. Man, that hurt. But I deserved it so I said goodbye thinking that this would be the last time I would ever hear from him.

The next day my phone got a text and it was way more than a "let's just be friends text" it was a "I still have feelings for you but am not willing to admit it text," it said three simple words, "I miss you" and I knew I was back in the game. I did my "I still got it" dance and then got down to business. I did what any psycho, crazy, determined girl would do, I scheduled a "business trip" in South LA and conveniently had an extra day to hang out and somehow didn't have a rental car so Kiel had to pick me up and go out to dinner with me. Those "business trips" continued to happen whenever I felt he was getting used to not having me around. Then a magical thing happened, he asked me to be his girlfriend. Four months later I moved to Southern California, three months after that he asked me to be his wife and three months after that we were married. Just like I knew we would be.

So this might not be the best love story, but on my wedding day, as I knelt at the altar and looked into Kiel’s eyes, I knew that everything was right—the right person, the right place, and the right TIME.

Now the only thing I wish for, is Montana to be a permanent residence at our house, after all, he was and will continue to be a big part of this love story ;)