Strangely True Story...Or..."It Would Only Happen to Me."

Friday evening, Israel and I were on our way home from the beautiful western part of Indiana's Amish area. We had tried to go to a quaint little out of the way Amish market where we buy a lot of dry goods but they had just closed. Hmmm...if we had just been a few minutes earlier...or if they had JUST stayed open a little while longer, the "strange but true" story would never have happened....or at least...not to US.

I love making the trip to that area...seeing the beautiful scenery and the homes and carts of the Amish. I really am interested in their lifestyle so I always consider it an adventure! I had never been there in the winter months and it still held the same fascination to me. So when I drove up to the market and realized that they had closed just fifteen minutes earlier, I wasn't really disheartened. After all, Israel and I had enjoyed the trip and we had talked and talked....everything from Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation to Martin Luther King. (Heavy stuff for a six year old, right?)

Anyway, it had been a long, somewhat snowy drive and we were finally headed home...a different and more "direct way this time, through the little towns nearby and over to the "Main Road." We had decided that, as soon as we could, we would need to stop and take a "potty" break...and maybe grab a much needed snack. (After all. we HAD missed out on the Amish Woopie Pies, homemade bread and candy, right?)

Happily, we drove up to a little nondescript gas station on the side of the road in nowhere, Indiana.  This was the kind of place that they look at you oddly when you walk in...we were strangers....a chubby white lady, driving a beautiful Ford Flex...with the undeniable imprint of a dead deer in the side, holding the hand of an African little boy....decidedly not from that area. Yeah, we looked strange. Can you say...an "easy mark...a push over...a sap...a schmuck?"

So, there we were, potty break taken, Butterfinger bar chosen, KitKat ready to be devoured, heading to the cashier, when I turned and there was this lady holding the very embodiment of allurement, fascination.....enchantment in her very hands.......a sweet, precious, little black puppy.

"Awww...." I smiled, feeling my heart melting all over my shoes...."Can we pet it?"

"Sure!" she eagerly...possibly TOO eagerly... said. (Does this remind you somewhat of "The Twilight Zone?")

"This is exactly the kind of puppy my husband has wanted." I divulged. (Beth should learn not to talk so much...) I rubbed my hands over the silky little black head and relished the little pink tongue flickering out to lick my fingers...

The lady took one look at me...then over to Israel....HANDED HIM THE LEASH....and said,

"HERE, SHE'S ALL YOURS!"  she declared emphatically!!

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness..." I kept saying in a stupor...while the life that I then knew flashed before my eyes....

I was thinking, "What do I do? What will Israel do if I don't? What will my HUSBAND do if I DO...???"

During the temporary loss of my senses, I vaguely remember whispering a feeble "ok"...then, in somewhat of a rush, as she made for the exit, the lady said, "She hasn't had any shots and she still pees in the house..." and she disappeared out the door.

So, there you go. We have a puppy....or more exactly, she has US. Her name is "Annie"....as in "Indi-Annie"....I survived my husband's...ummmm.....uuhhhh..........how do you say...........well....I survived.
Blessings,
Beth