Tale of a Lucky Dog

When Erin was a little over one year old, we took her to the local mall to kill some time on a cold, weekend afternoon. As we were pushing her stroller through the Disney Store, she grabbed hold of a stuffed animal and just would not let it go. "Great," I thought. "Another stuffed animal." But Jim declared that we should buy it for her, after all, she was immediately and totally in love it with. It was a stuffed Dalmatian from 101 Dalmatians, and its collar declared that its name was Lucky. Lucky indeed!

Lucky quickly became one of Erin's favorite companions. He went just about everywhere with her, and spent every night clutched in her arms. He went to my parents' house when we'd go down for weekend visits, and he's been on every single vacation we've taken for the last nine years, including cruises, car trips, plane rides, and even a cross-country move. He's been on countless sleepovers at Erin's friends' houses. He even once got lost in a hotel in Montreal (the housekeepers had accidentally taken him when they'd taken the sheets off the bed), and Erin was beside herself with grief until we managed to track him down.

Today, just about nine years after we first welcomed Lucky into our lives, he's still just as important to Erin as he was those first few days we had him. He still sleeps with her every night, and I frequently find him wrapped in her arms when she's sound asleep. He's still carried with us on every vacation and on every overnight that Erin goes on. He's a little soft in the middle now, and eventually we may need to look at getting him some new stuffing. But Erin loves him more than any other possession that she has, and I'm sure he'll be a part of her life for years to come.