The Forever Puppy

When Linda brought Daisy home — a floppy-eared beagle puppy — she was thirty-two, recently divorced, and convinced she would never love anything again. The world had taught her that people left. They promised forever and then they left.

Daisy had other ideas about whose favorite she was.

For seventeen years, Daisy made it her mission to prove Linda wrong. She greeted her every evening like she had been waiting for hours. She slept on Linda’s feet, a warm weight that said: I am here, I am staying. She waited by the door when Linda came home from work, her entire body wagging with joy that never dimmed.

The vet called it a good, long life. Seventeen years was remarkable for a beagle. But to Linda, it still felt too soon.

Linda found Loving Charmz on what would have been Daisy’s fifteenth gotcha day. She ordered a pendant — two small paw prints, one slightly larger than the other, connected by a delicate chain. The larger print was for Daisy. The smaller was for the new rescue puppy Linda had been considering.

That next weekend, Linda adopted a three-month-old beagle mix. She named her Daisy Jr. — though they called her DJ.

“Daisy would have wanted this,” Linda reflects. “She would have loved DJ. And honestly? I think she’s glad I’m not alone anymore.”