The Stead Family: Reunion

Most of you know that before Cohen came along, like most couples, Adam and I had our first "baby" or our dog Cooper. Adam and I got Cooper together but the dog very quickly turned into Adam's best buddy. Cooper likes me of course, but he LOVES Adam. He is an awesome dog and is so good with Cohen, which is one of the reasons we decided to get the kind of dog we did, a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Cooper is not your run of the mill dog but is pretty big (about 90 pounds) and is pretty quirky. He does not play fetch or like water like most large dogs do, but instead looks at you like your an idiot when you throw a ball or frisbee. He thinks he is a lap dog and will try to squeeze into the smallest space on the sofa just to be next to "his people". The breed is called "counter surfers" as they will stand and "walk" along your kitchen counter tops in search of food and Cooper actually jumped over the island in my kitchen one time to escape from me when he was in trouble for eating food in the kitchen. Cooper is a very sweet dog but it's not so easy to find someone to keep a dog like this, especially for an unknown period of time.

When Adam first was injured, Cooper initially stayed with our neighbor but he soon deployed in a couple of months. Then Cooper went to stay with a good friend in Clarksville until he deployed in December. After that we did not have anywhere to send Cooper since I did not want to burden anyone else so Adam suggested I contacted the breeder, Ann, where we got Cooper to see if she if she could keep him while we were gone. Ann ended up contacting a couple, Scott and Debbie, who live about an hour from Clarksville to see if they could keep Cooper. This couple had a Ridgeback that died just a couple months prior and they were pretty distraught. And, it would be much easier logistically to get Cooper to their home than all the way to Atlanta where Ann lives. So as soon as Ann contacted Scott he said "yes", they would take Cooper, before he even called his wife to ask her! Of course she was on board with adopting Cooper temporarily too. A couple of days later Scott and Debbie went to our friends house to pick up Cooper and ended up taking care of him for the next six months. No questions asked and at the time, for an unknown period of time. I kept in touch with Scott and Debbie via email and phone while we were in Tampa, Atlanta and Bethesda but Adam and I did not meet them until we went to visit Cooper in April of 2010. Adam and I finally ended up getting our Copper back in the Summer of 2010.

Scott and Debbie were wonderful "parents" for our Cooper and were such a blessing for us. We have now become great friends with this amazing couple who now have a new Ridgeback puppy of their own and a new baby in their family! About a month ago, Ann came to Nashville to visit Scott and Debbie and to show their Ridgeback puppy in a local dog show. Adam, Cohen and I went to the dog show to support Rafa, the new puppy, and to see Ann, Scott, Debbie and baby Caleb. Our little reunion was so great! Here are a few pictures: