Real-life Romance: Warm Noses & a Dead Squirrel

What exactly do dead squirrels have to do with romance? Well, you might be surprised. Author Lisa Schnedler is sharing her story today and I think you're going to like it. ;)

​“You did it wrong,” one of my friends counseled. “You never get three dogs all the same age.”
I wish I had known—that my three “babies” – a rescue Maltese, a mixed-breed dumped on the side of the road, and my son’s childhood Boston Terrier—all in the same age range—would have to be put to sleep, one each year, for three years. And it wasn’t just the pain of putting them to sleep. It was the months and months of poor health, vet visits, and the pain of watching your companion want to live—and not be able to.
My husband had had too much of this.
“Let’s not get a dog until you retire.”
But, six months after the suffering ended, I had had enough. Enough of coming home to an empty house. Enough of walks alone. Enough of not having my warm friend under my feet as I worked at my computer. I had had enough!

“I’m not retiring for two years—I can’t take this for two years!”
And so, each night, I showed him dogs that were available through rescue. Every night. He complained about my obsessions.
Finally, he gave in. “Okay,” he conceded. “We can get a dog.”
Those were the most romantic words anyone could speak to me.
I found four dogs online that seemed to be a good fit for us: two puppies, a grown dog that had been abused, and a two-year-old dog that had been rescued from a breeder.
“I would like any one of these. You choose,” I told him this, as he would be at home with our new dog during the day and wasn’t eager for a new dog; I wanted him to make the final selection.
He visited the abused dog. “He is nice—timid, but I think we could make this work.”
Next, the puppies. “Either of these puppies would be fine. They are very sweet.”
Finally, he visited the dog that had been rescued from the breeder.
This time, he was emphatic. “This is the one!”
A bit of an odd blend, Abigail is a two-year-old Dachshund Golden Retriever mix. Short legs, a long nose, and a short body—but all the features of a Golden. I asked the rescuer, “Why would someone breed this type of dog.”
“They are for Midwesterners who move to cities on the East Coast and want their Golden—but sized to fit their apartments. She and her sister were likely purchased to breed, but the breeder died—so we rescued them. Her sister sold—we still have her. Now, she is alone for the first time.”
My husband’s report?
“She is perfect. She will run with you—or walk. She is loving happy, and wants to greet everyone. The grandkids will love her.”
And so, with that, Abigail – or “Abby,” “Bee,” or “Happy”—as my mother calls her, joined our family.
For us, she is perfect.
Like all little girls, who has she wrapped around her paw?
My husband. She follows him like her shadow.
I am a close second.
It doesn’t get better than that.
How romantic!
Oh – and that “dead squirrel” I mentioned in the title?
It’s her favorite toy. A flattened squirrel with a squeaker that our vet gave her.
Every day,  I hear my husband ask her, “Where is Dead Squirrel?”
It beats the silence that filled our home.
By a mile.

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Lisa Schnedler

​I write cozy fiction set in small towns you’ll want to visit with characters I hope will soon become your friends—I know they’ve become mine!


I serve Jesus through my writing, Christian Life Planning ministry, church, blog, and podcast, and I spend the rest of my time loving my family and writing about good people you will want to meet.


I have this great family—three grown children whose marriages have given me my “additional three kids” and six grandkids. I was blessed with parents who love the Lord and put a solid foundation under all of us. In my professional career, I’ve worked as a hospital president for more than thirty years. Plus, as a pastor’s wife, I’ve been given the opportunity to serve churches alongside my husband—my best friend and the love of my life!--for more than thirty years in small towns people love to visit. We recently opened a Christian Learning Center, “Cornerstone,” offering free classes and gatherings to help Christians learn and form friendships. I love to make new friends!

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Bentonsport: A New Chapter

What if you followed your heart—not across distance but across time?
 
Sarah Peterson never knew how far she would go for love. But when Thomas Barton walks into her life, makes her fall in love, and asks her to join him in his world--a hundred and fifty years back in time—she’s more afraid of losing him than leaving her reality. So she puts her future in God’s hands and awakens in the past. Now, she’s facing a world she’s only dreamed of, and reality is nothing like her dreams.
 
Thomas Barton never imagined he’d meet a woman like his beloved Sarah. Leaving her behind was the hardest thing he ever did, so when he discovers she’s followed him across time, he’s ready to spend his life making her decision worthwhile. Then his friends come up with a plan to convince Bentonsport she’s part of their era, but it’s going to take another miracle to pull this off.
 
Love was enough to carry them through a hundred and fifty years. Will it be enough to get them through the next weeks and months?

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