Meila Moo Saves the Day

Meila Moo Saves the Day

Meila Ruth came into my life on November 14th, 2017. I googled puppies on Craigslist, searched the Facebook marketplace and looked up every breeder in Tennessee. I found little Meila and her brothers and sisters on Craigslist finally. She was the runt of the litter. We drove over an hour to pick her up and she was half the size of the brother they brought along for us to choose from.

As soon as I saw her face, I knew she was going to be my baby. She wasn't quite old enough to be separated from her mom yet. We realized this on the way home as she cried and threw up from being car sick. She was SOOO tiny! We contemplated calling the previous owner and asking her to let Meila stay with her mom for another week, but had already fallen in love with her tiny head and little brown eyebrows.

She was clingy. Who am I kidding, she still IS clingy. She is me in dog form. Meila crawls up to your neck, wherever you may be sitting/lying and lays right against your face. She begs to be touched by you at all times, especially when you try to take a bath. She sits beside the bathtub and just bawls until you get out so she can lick your ankles while wagging her tail.

Meila didn't know I needed her. She isn't aware of my constant anxiety since my great grandmother passed. I watched my MaMa Ruth die for months. Everyday, she begged to go ahead and leave this world. She pleaded with God to let her stop suffering. Seeing that does something to you. It changes your outlook on life and makes you a much more sullen, and discouraged version of yourself.

She died in October 2016. I moved to Nashville by myself after graduating college in May 2017. The first few months were okay because I was settling into my new job and my boyfriend was able to come up during the week because he was on weekend shift. As I got more used to living alone, I got sad. Really sad.

Everyday, I came home and turned on the same show on Netflix because I had watched it in college with my best friend and it gave me some sort of comfort seeing the same characters and the same episodes, over and over. I made supper, watched Netflix and fell into a slow, repetitive, monotonous routine. I started to go to my hometown more often, to stay with my parents because I hadn't made many new friends in Nashville (Making friends in the real world is a lot harder than in college).

I kept thinking that maybe a dog would help and make it easier when my boyfriend couldn't come up or my friends and family were busy. I kept putting it off because I didn't want to deal with the mess and the trials of trying to train a puppy when you have an 8-5 everyday. So, when I began searching the internet for a puppy on November 14, I decided to be more of my spontaneous, high school self in hopes of just jumping off the ledge and doing something even if I would regret it.

That's when I found Meila. My boyfriend was in Nashville when I found her and I texted him a picture and said, "Let's get this baby tonight."

We went to Walmart without talking through it much, knowing we would do the responsible thing and back out if we thought too hard on it. We bought food, bowls, a leash and blue collar (Jake just knew we would choose a boy). We made plans to meet with her owner at seven.

When we met her previous owner, she pulled my baby out of a crate, covered in throw up and Meila was wagging her tail like she won the lottery. I started laughing and knew I loved her before they even introduced us. She was literally half the size of her brother and could fit in the palm of my hand. She was shaking and licking and already trying to cuddle up in Jake's arms on the way home. We switched places halfway through so I could hold her. She threw up on Jake's shirt and he stripped it off and tossed it in a Subway parking lot. I will never forget that ride home.

I say all of that to say this: Meila saved me from my constant state of loneliness. I no longer filled with utter despair as soon as Jake walked out of my door on Thursday for his weekend shift in Georgia. I picked up Meila and knew we would make it until the following Monday. She follows my every move through my entire apartment.

If I go to bed, she comes too. If I lay on the recliner all night watching TV, she lays with me too. She plays fetch and wears out so quickly and sits on my feet while I get ready in the morning. The training hasn't been half as bad as I thought it would be. She is only a few months old and knows how to use her pads. Isn't that crazy? If you compare dogs to humans, the timing in education is just insane. She already knows how to sit, run, fetch and responds to her name. I know I wasn't doing that at four months, so it just fascinates me!

If you are going through a tough time right now, or maybe had a loss that shook your world up like me, I suggest getting a four-legged baby that will keep you company. Something to worry about, something to care for, something to distract you from unnecessary anxiety. Meila has done that for me. She has made me a better person. She has filled a little of that void that experiencing death made in my heart. Get you a little Me-Me too and I promise you won't be able to worry about much else for a little while.

Just get the puppy. I promise you won't regret it.