My son and his wife adopted a dog last weekend. They are very excited about it! Cute little three month old black puppy, retriever mix. We face-timed Sunday night for a little bit and the dog didn’t bark at all. So far, it seems the dog is very good with the baby, just likes to watch him play.

The problem is that they also brought the dog home. To their house. Where I’m visiting soon. And, I’m afraid of dogs.

I never had pets growing up. Well, that’s not entirely true. We had goldfish, but I’m not sure that counts. Most of my friends had dogs or cats. My husband’s family had a dog. Pepper was very well-behaved and friendly. None of these animals really bothered me too much.

Today I am thankful that, even as a “seasoned” adult, there are still opportunities to overcome fear.

Over thirty years ago, when I was pregnant with our firstborn, one of our friends had a “crazy” German Shepherd. This dog was HUGE and very jumpy. Several times, during thunderstorms, the dog even jumped through a porch window! During one of our visits to their home when I was nearly nine months pregnant, the monster dog jumped up on me, knocked me off balance, pulled a hole in my shirt, and scared me half to death.

I haven’t gotten over that experience.

A lot of people just don’t get it. I hear things like, “It’s just a puppy.” “That was thirty years ago.” “Get over it.” “Why won’t you try?”

.

Sigh.

We’ll see what happens. I know I want to see my grandson much more than I want to avoid the puppy. Maybe I’ll have a breakthrough. Or, maybe I’ll just manage my fear. Either way, I won’t let it get the best of the grandma in me.

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