A Dog, a Couch and a Boy

During our first two years, Daddo worked for a determined addicted crazy football coach at his first job. He was at the school coaching football or ‘meeting’ about coaching for close to 90 hours a week. And they finished 0-10 that year. It was tough. I was in and out of a journalism job and was doing educational training that added more stress. 

Year one ended and Daddo moved jobs to a happier, lower-key, friendly working environment. I quit one job and started teaching full-time. 

Things were looking better for us. 

We decided to trade in Jake’s truck (from high school) and purchase a new one. We did in November 2003. 

We talked about a baby, but had no idea it would happen so easily and so quickly. 

March 2004 the news of the millennium hit our family. A grand baby coming in the Fall. Things were happening. Phases were changing. Some starting and some ending. 

April 2004: 

Daddo and I drove about 5 minutes to a friend of a friend’s house. They bred and sold Labrador retrievers. Each litter, they gave one puppy away for free to a friend or just acquaintance. We were those lucky people this time. We actually had no idea how blessed we were to be getting this pick-of-the-litter chocolate lab, bred from a competitive retrieving dog, complete with registration papers. Really know idea. We brought our Sunni Lou home that April, with me just a few months pregnant, and our new phase was beginning; parents to a puppy. 

The phase of having a pet we called our own and was our’s together had started. We were pet people. She was our first lessons in making decisions about taking care of another life. We had to find her a doctor (vet). We had to potty train her and discipline her. I remember Daddo would give her a bowl of food and then start messing with her head and pulling her ears. If she growled even a little, he’d spank her and put her in timeout in her kennel. She loved her kennel. She still has it and uses it as her ‘safe’ spot when we’re camping. It was the first time I trusted Daddo in his knowledge about disciplining and training…. Albeit a dog; I still listened to him and believed he knew best. She was our baby. And I have all the photos of her from those early years in my picture albums to prove it. 

September 2004:

On Labor Day Monday I wasn’t feeling well pregnancy-wise. Jake was at his high school football practice so I called mom to take me to the Dr. who then sent me to the ER. My little future rule-follower tried to be born on Labor Day only it was about 9 weeks too soon. After a few hours at the hospital they got my actual labor stopped, but put me on 3 weeks of bed rest. 

We needed a couch in a bad way. We still had the double hand-me-down college apartment couch….. with a slip cover, just for visual purposes. That bad. 

I could only take the strict bed rest for a week then I had to sneak out and do something productive. But take it easy. So I went couch shopping. Daddo’s only request: had to be super-stuffed and long enough from inside end-to-end for him to stretch out and lay on. I guess he could foresee all the nights as a dad that he would be sleeping on the couch. 

So a huge pregnant me went from store to store not just looking for a couch but laying down in any that looked close to the length we needed. At which I required assistance in getting back up each time. It became comical but with a football-coaching husband, I had to shop without him. Just a glimpse into my future as a coach’s wife and school administrator’s wife. 

Finally we found the perfect over-stuffed, super long couch that also met our taste decorative-wise too. And it came with a matching chair and ottoman. 

I remember the day it was delivered. I was still on ‘bedrest’ and waited alllllllll day for my first new furniture. It was almost too wide to fit through our front door but it made it. Once it was in and I had it moved to where I thought it fit best, I just stood back and looked at it. Our couch was beautiful. I was so proud. This was the first item we bought for our home after getting married. It was just our’s. No one else’s before us. And it was perfectly fitting for our home and the rowdy crew that would come in the decade ahead.  

November 2004:

It was my first baby and first delivery experience but I knew during the night of November 2nd that it was time to head to the hospital. We hadn’t found out the gender of our first born and were still in discussion of names on the way to the hospital. We knew it was ‘William’ after my maiden name for a boy. But the middle name was up to Daddo. The girl name was ‘Audra’ after my grandmother, and either ‘Mae’ or ‘Love.’ I knew my car was out of gas but didn’t think to mention it until we were on the road. The labor pains were increasing quickly and I was panicking. Living in the country and 30 minutes from our hospital was scary enough. But after finding the first gas station was closed we had to travel at least 15 more miles until the next one and the bright red ‘Low Fuel’ light was flashing. In the midst of this and me grabbing the car side handle at every bump and turn, Daddo said ‘What about Paul for the middle name?’ He’s always had perfect timing. 

‘I think I responded by yelling, ‘SURE! I DONT CARE!’ 

After getting $2 in gas and making it to the hospital, our first born son William Paul was born at 7:50 am on November 2nd. The most important phase had started. The one that would never end as long as we both were alive. We were parents. 

A dog. A couch. And a boy. A span of ten years. Two of them have almost reached their lifespan. The other is just now starting to find his way. 

We could have never planned how special our Sunni Lou would become to our family and to our boy. 

They have grown up together. From their first Christmas, to wrestling in the floor, hundreds of games of fetch and swims in the pool and now a gentle pat on the head. They are buds. 

 

And that couch? It’s just a couch. 

Couches are where friends and family come together the closest. That’s where babies lay down….

 

Couches are where memories are made. And a decade old couch? If only couches could talk and tell all the stories they’ve heard. 

It’s where mommas cuddle with their babies….

Couches are where big brothers get to pose in a picture with the new baby… 

 Couches are where Mommas put their sick babies so they can keep a close eye on them…

Big brothers, so excited as they wait on their new baby brother to be born in the middle of the night, sleep on the family couch…. 

 Family couches are special. Family dogs are special. Phases that we go through are incredibly special. As this boy turns ten years old, phases start to come to an end. A new couch? An old dog? A boy growing up? 

Much love to the old couches out there. Thanks for holding the families together and bringing friendships closer.