By Eve Bell

I’ve longed for a dog since I was a little girl.

I never gave up hope.

My dad worked long hours and on the days that he could pick me up from school as a surprise, I ran to him convinced he had a puppy for me.

When I got married in Italy, he told tales about me wanting a dog and I even convinced myself in that moment that he had bought me a dog and it was here in Italy.

I seriously never gave up hope.

We didn’t get a dog when the children were small. I was running a business and looking after two small children, it was never going to work.

But a couple of years ago, I decided it was time. I was getting the spaniel I always wanted.

In 2020, just before lockdown, four tiny paws joined our family.

And his paws never leave my side.

Never.

When I nip to the loo, have a bath, make a cup of tea, He is there looking at me with love and hope.

I didn’t anticipate having a shadow when I longed for a dog.

I look at these little paws and think of all the things he has gifted me.

The power of hope. The love of being outdoors.

And pausing.

The thing that made me decide to get a dog was reading Do Pause. Highly recommend if you feel like your life is a long to do list. This book talks about all the tips to create pauses in your day. It dedicated a whole chapter to dogs.

Do Books have inspired changes in my life in many ways, but none so big as our crazy spaniel.

He helps me live in the now.

To stop doing and start being.