Day Six

The Words:

Camille: hey will you write really quickly about how you got Isabelle/her name?

Below is what my boyfriend wrote when I typed that into this blog and passed him my laptop on the BoltBus on the way home from Christmas with his family. The adoration and love you see in this photo obviously goes both ways. See for yourself in his story.

Six Years Ago, my mom decided she wanted a dog. We all loved dogs so we were not opposed. My dad couldn’t oppose because he was in Morocco or Thailand or somewhere. He enjoys man’s best friend as much as the next joe, so we figured that upon his return he would not kick the dog we were planning on getting to the curb.

Being that my mom is a goodhearted lady, she made the executive decision that our family would adopted a dog from a rescue program. After what I imagine to be hours, my mother came upon a dog rescue program situated out of Vermont or Maine or one of those New England states that was not Massachusetts or Rhode Island, that found their impoverished dogs from the Island of Anguilla.

Baby Izzy

After scanning through the various pictures on the site, my mother picked out a good looking puppy that she decided would be the best dog for our family. The only thing left to do (besides getting food, getting a cage, buying a collar, buying a leash, getting food bowl, getting a water bowl, buying some raw hide, giving the dog shots and actually picking the adorable canine) was to give it a name. As the days approached to the moment  where the Zeizel brothers would get a new sister/dog, a good hearty handful of girl names where thrown around, but nothing seem to stick.

With 24 hours until we were to pick up the dog, my brothers and I were traveling home from a skate park or a McDonalds when Mama Chiang-Zeizel explained to us that the dog and the dog’s sisters would be very shaken up when they landed because they were flying through Hurricane Isabelle. Moments later I said, we should call her Isabelle. Everybody liked it, so it stuck. I also pointed out that Izzy is a fantastic nickname for a female dog.

When we did arrive at the Vermont/Maine/NE rescue-house-program-pick-up-zone-joint-”get-your-mutt-here” place, the dog we had selected was gone, along with her sisters!

Except for one. The outcast one. The goofy one. The one with the huge head and the tiny body, that had string beans for legs and was so nervous from her flight that she shook when she walked.

What the hell. We’ll take her. We’ll take Isabelle. Below you can see a picture of a several week old Isabelle in all her scrawny glory.

Despite realizing that Izzy makes an awesome name and Isabelle makes a beautiful name, I usually just call her dog, cause that’s what she is, a lovable, sweet, bright-eyed, fun-loving, eye-liner-wearing dog. I love you, Isabelle.