When Darcy left us, many have asked Mum if she would get another. “But I have George,” she would say. She knew she would one day adopt another, but she really wanted me to have my time. She would say to me, “It’s just the two of us now and we will continue to make memories together.”
And for 18 months we travelled far and wide. It was just the two of us exploring the world and making our own memories.
Then one day, on the 29th July, while she was having a manicure at Richard Ward Salon, the manicurist spoke about her dog, a doodle cross, and Mum told her she had one too. As she spoke about Darcy’s sudden passing, Mum became emotional. And for the rest of that day, she was incredibly sad as she relived the weeks of losing Darcy.
The next morning she awoke to an Instagram post from Harbin Slaughterhouse Survivors about Dante, an old dog who needed a home for the last years of his life. Mum queried if she could help. Unfortunately, Dante was too big and too old for a London flat. She offered to take maybe an old toy poodle who would benefit from being in a home. Their response, “We have over 80 miniature poodles currently. All less than 5kg.” They knew the dog had to be smaller than me and sent along this photo.
Mum gasped. Those eyes that melt were just like Darcy’s. Her heart expanded immediately!
They pinged lots of other options. She kept scrolling. Mum limited the choice to just girls … and she saw several others but “Cherry” just looked familiar. But she was weighing in at a chubby 5.5kg! God Almighty! That’s almost as heavy as me!
There was AiWa, Fallen, Jie Jie … but Mum knew it had to be Cherry. In that thread of Direct Messaging, she sent an application through to Slaughterhouse Survivors.
And that was how it happened.
Mum wasn’t going to tell anyone about it because she wanted to be sure. But within an hour she told one, and then her godson, Edgar and she also told Teen Tyke. They were all excited and couldn’t wait to meet her. How could she contain her excitement with more than a month to go? She tried but with every day, she told another quietly, don’t tell anyone, she said! LOL!
She also kept telling me that I will have a sister soon but I didn’t quite comprehend what it all meant. Then one night last week there was a flurry of things happening. There was a crate in the bedroom and a pack of pee pads! Throughout Saturday night and all day Sunday, Mum was getting constant updates on her phone. When we went out for our evening walk, she told me that my new sister would be coming through those gates.
I stared at it and wondered who would be coming through those gates.
By then, “Cherry” had already left the Safehouse in Harbin for Beijing to be checked over and blood tests taken for the titre test results. She boarded a plane for Paris on the 20th August, albeit 14 hours later than it should have been …
and then driven to Calais to cross the Tunnel and finally to our home. It was just before 1 am on the 21st August when the stranger arrived.
Yes, we met on “neutral” grounds … not so neutral as it’s my courtyard. And that stranger who appeared at our gates, a fluff ball smaller than me had come to be a part of our family.
And just like that we are a trio again.
We shall introduce her to you properly, or rather, she might like to write her own post.
May’s comment: We don’t really know her background. There was a shelter in LangFang just outside Beijing. The manager of the shelter passed away in 2021 leaving all the dogs to fend for themselves. A volunteer had stepped in to help out with the dogs and had asked Slaughterhouse Survivors to help take whatever dogs they could. They kept in touch and in December 2022, the rescuer contacted them about a load of little ones she had taken off a dog meat truck. And “Cherry” was one of them.
These are the first photos of her.
Was she stolen? Was she sold? Whatever happened, fate stepped in and she was one of the lucky ones that was given a second chance.
When is it ready to have another after a broken heart? There’s no right time, formula or reasoning to it. They say, you’ll know.
I surely wasn’t planning on having another so soon but it all just happened. I know that Darcy will always be in my heart and I still have a hard time accepting her passing and how she went so suddenly. We still had so much more to do and she was my soul dog. But I also knew within that Darcy, in her own way, told me it was also time for me to open my heart again to another. And I knew as soon as I saw Cherry’s eyes.
On the 22nd August, 19 months after Darcy’s passing, I became a Mum of two again. George has a sister, and our home is hers.
14 Responses
Wibderful May, it always happens like that and Cherry will make a wonderful member of the team xxx
How wonderful! My heart is bursting for you all. She will havd today most wonderful life with you. She is a very lucky pup to have you both. She has landed oh her feet . So deserved. Well done George and May for saving her xxx
May, I am very pleased for you. My daughter & I were in Kings X yesterday and we saw u hating to others with Cherry and my daughter did comment that perhaps you had gotten a new pooch 💕 enjoy and hope you are all v happy together 😊
And she was right! You should have come up to say hello.
This is lovely to read. Yes Miss Darcy will never leave your heart, but she would never want you and George to be lonely. She would want you to go off on your adventures as the three Amigos once more.
What a lovely story ! I am in a similar position – having lost my ‘soul dog mate’ Tulip two months ago, at age 14. Heartbroken for sure and still recovering from her loss. Our second dog is Daisy (age 3) and has been grieving as well and missing Tulip’s everyday presence in our lives. We are welcoming Della (age 8 weeks) in mid September and I have many mixed feelings – nervous anxiety, excitement, concern about how Daisy and Della will get along, the upheaval of having a puppy in the house again….and reminders of how much I miss Tulip. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings with us – it is so comforting to know that we are not alone in these experiences.
This is beautiful and tragic all at the same time. It’s so so sad that some other cultures don’t value dogs. After buying three cockapoos, I will admit the one I am most in love with is my dog, Buddy, who came from an animal hoarding situation and was severely traumatized. I will never buy another dog when so many out there are suffering and in need of a home. Buddy has taught me that lesson. Congratulations to all three of you. 🙂
To open your heart and your home to another dog is the greatest honour you could pay to Miss Darcy. 💕💕
Great news, May! George, Cherry and you make a marvellous trio. Looking forward to seeing more of your adventures and travels together!
You have no idea how our story mirrors yours in some ways. We lost our wonderful Mac in 2022 and have spent over a year with only Hunter who we found in our garden! Hunter came just weeks before we knew Mac had cancer. I like you could not bring myself to consider another dog. Then in August I saw a picture of Fudge and knew right away that this was her, Just a short wait of days and she was another fantastic member of the famijy. Fudge and Hunter are a delight twosome. How lucky are we?
love to all your family from ours xxx
We will always know when the time is right and when the right one comes along.
I am glad you have Fudge – they were sent to us like all the others.
Interesting about Hunter.
Oh May , how wonderful I’ve only just seen your post . Cherry , she really looks a little sweetheart and you are the most amazing Mum any pup could have .those eyes of hers say so much. I’m sure you’ll all be very happy together and do lots of exciting things xx
She is beautiful!! She and George make a wonderful pair.
My Harvey came to me to heal my heart after losing Sam. I swear he is Sam reincarnated! He keeps Sam alive in so many ways for me. Not a replacement, of course, but a loving reminder.
Congratulations!!!
So glad you did it. Adopting an SHS dog is so special. Giggling a little as when April and I met you both earlier in the Summer you were adamant it was George’s time, no more additions. Maybe April had a little influence as well as Darcy. 💖 Lulu looks so good and brave going to the Woof event so soon after arrival. Sorry we could not come.