His name is Lucky

Yesterday I wrote that the happiest day of my life was when my son could come home from the hospital after spending two months in the neonatal intensive care unit. Today’s story is also a happy coming home story. My friends, Hase and Sancar, had a beautiful cocker spaniel named Munchan. She had a pristine white coat with caramel colored spots. They loved that dog very much. One day, they decided that Munchan should experience the pleasure of making love to a sexy cocker spaniel male, and the joys of motherhood. So they called up a doggy gigolo service and arranged for a hookup. According to my friends, the dog that showed up was not handsome at all, but he was there and they had already paid. So, there was nothing to it but for the two dogs to do it. The first time was the charm because Munchan got pregnant with a litter of five pups: King, Pasha, Happy, Sofi, and Lucky.

Munchan gave birth in Okinawa. When the puppies were old enough to be separated from their mother, Hase took a flight to Tokyo to deliver them to their new homes. My daughter had been bugging me for years to buy her a puppy. For years, I refused. I knew that raising a dog would be hard work and that no matter how much she promised she would do it, the job would inevitably fall on me. Still, I made her swear that she would take care of the dog for the rest of his life. She was eight years old at the time and willing to promise anything as long as it would lead to having a puppy. Little did she know that making that promise with me was like making a bargain with the devil. We have an ironclad agreement that she can never be released from. She's 21 years old now and I still expect her to fulfill the oath she made when she was eight.

When Hase gave me one of the puppies he was so small he could almost fit in my hand. I don't drive or have a driver’s license, so I had to take the train to meet her. I put the dog in a duffel bag and carried him home with me. I rode in the first class car because it was quiet and unlikely that the dog would disturb any of the passengers. I don't think dogs are allowed on the train so I was worried the conductor would scold me or kick me off. Fortunately, the ticket collector was a young girl, who took one look at the puppy and melted into refrains of, “He's so cute!”

The train conductor was right. He was super cute. In fact, I think he is the cutest one of the liter. I knew Desire would love him. I wanted his arrival to be a surprise, so I brought him home while she was still at school. I wish you could have seen the look on her face when she came home and found him. It was priceless “So what are you going to name him?” I asked her. She paused for a few seconds then responded, “At first I wanted to name my dog Leaf, if I ever got one. But, I have changed my mind. His name is Lucky.” That's how he got his name.

For the last 13 years, Lucky has brought us nothing but happiness. Sometimes I sing a song to him, “🎶His name is lucky. He's the luckiest dog in the world. His name is lucky. He's the luckiest dog in the world.🎶” He loves that song, but I suspect that somewhere in the back of his mind he is thinking, “You are the Lucky one human!” He would not be wrong.

Lucky after he came home from from the groomer's today.