7 Gifts in July
7 Gifts in July
By Hannah Rae Tuimala
“Hannah, come here!”
Kaleb called to me from the living room. I was still fully enjoying the comfort of our pillow top mattress, but the intensity of his voice gave me the motivation to get to my feet. It was only 10 AM , but the summer sun was already sweltering. It was going to be a hot day.
“What’s up, Babe?” Kaleb was standing by the answering machine and had a concerned and yet amused look on his face.
“Dad called. Listen to this.” He pressed play on the selected message and we both listened intently.
“Hey Kids, it’s Dad. Well, it happened again. We’ve got puppies.” When I heard that word my heart jumped. Another litter?
Dad’s farm dog, Annie, had given birth to two litters in the past two and a half years. The litters had to be hand raised because Annie didn’t know how to take care of them and did not produce any milk. Since those litters were born in the winter, very few puppies survived.
The first litter was a complete learning experience. I read as much as I could and didn’t sleep for three days straight due my motherly instincts going into overdrive. The second litter was much less stressful and we got into a comfortable routine. This 3rd litter was a surprise, but we knew exactly what to do
After a little smiling and giggling from excitement, I started to gather supplies. I took our laundry basket and lined it with old towels. I set out the baby bottles from the previous litters and dug out the heating pads we would need to keep these pups warm. It was time to go puppy hunting.
When we got to the farm, Dad had already left for work, but we knew where to look; everywhere. Annie had the horrible habit of scattering her puppies all over the yard. The crucial difference between previous litters and this one was that these puppies were born in the summer and actually had a chance to survive.
The search reminded me of an Easter egg hunt, except the little treasures we were searching for were puppies.
“I found one way over here!” Kaleb shouted more than 30 feet from Annie’s dog house. “He’s a little black one, just like Eva.”
“I found two in the dog house.” I called back. “A cream one, like Angel, and a beautiful brown and white one.”
After a few minutes we found three more in the weeds, all alive, all strong.
“Do you see any more, Love?” I asked Kaleb.
“Nope, I think we got them all. Wow. Six. This will be a challenge.” We both looked at each other and nodded.
The puppies were squeaking all the way home, which was the most beautiful sound I could hear at that moment. All I could think of was how much I would enjoy raising these precious little gifts.
When we got into the house I took each of the puppies to the sink for their first bath, as well as some close investigation. There were four boys, two black and white, and two cream and white. The two girls were the most unique puppies Annie had given birth to yet. One girl was black and white with a beautiful amber tint on her back; the other was a beautiful deep chocolate brown with white paws and a white starred chest.
After washing and drying each tiny little body, it was time to get some food into their bellies. I had to come up with a way to keep track of the puppies eating and elimination habits, and that meant names.
It’s a tradition in our family to give all of our animals Hebrew and Greek names. My head began to whirl. I pulled out my laptop and went to the baby names site. After one or two searches I realized that this method was not efficient enough to name so many unique pups.
“Kaleb, do you still have that Hebrew tutor on your lappy?” I asked.
“Sure, what cha’ got in mind?”
“I was thinking of naming them letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It would be a lot faster than trying to look up specific names.”
Kaleb pulled out his lap top and brought up the program. As he did, I wrote descriptions of each of the puppies in a column of a chart I made in a notebook.
“Here you go, Babe.” Kaleb said as he handed me the laptop. “All spelled out, and the symbols are next to them if you want them.”
“Sweet! Thanks, Love.” I said, eagerly taking the computer from his hands. I read down the list of letters. “Aleph, that’s a good strong name. I think it fits this big guy.” I picked up the largest of the male puppies. He was cream colored with a white chest and paws. He squirmed in my hands, but didn’t make a peep. “You are Aleph. Awly for short.” I wrote his name next to his description, along with the Hebrew symbol, just for fun.
The rest of the names came quickly. Beth was the little brown girl; Gimel, went to the other cream boy; Daleth, or Dolly, went to the beautiful black and amber girl; Vav fit the first little black boy; finally Zion, the littlest and most feisty black boy.
“There, you’ve all got names.” I said, “Now it’s time to eat.”
After the puppies chowed down on homemade puppy formula, they got cleaned up and placed in their laundry basket nest. They all fell fast asleep and I joyfully watched as their little chests rose and fell, and their perfectly formed legs twitched in the air. At that moment there was not a more peaceful site on earth.
About six o’clock that evening we heard a knock on our door and Kaleb’s dad walked into our kitchen holding something in his hands.
“Look what I found in the tall grass behind the tractor!” Dad said in his usual monotone voice. He held out a tiny red-brown body. It was lying very still.
“Wow, another one. ” I said, hoping in my heart that it wasn’t too late. I took the little puppy in my hands. It was another little girl. I rubbed her fur firmly, but gently, and a high pitched squeal escaped her lips. “I think she’ll be just fine. I’ll get a bottle warmed for her.”
I sat on the dining room floor feeding that little brown puppy and looked over the list of Hebrew letters. I skipped five or six because they were more masculine sounding and didn’t fit this delicate little girl.
“Pe.” I finally whispered. “I think that’s perfect.”
“I like that.” Kaleb said from behind me. “Wow, seven puppies. Do you think you can handle it?”
I sighed as I looked at the six little furry masses squirming in the laundry basket and the one I held in my hands. “Yeah, it’ll be a challenge alright, but I’m not in school right now, and Rachel can help out. It’ll be good.”
Before I went to sleep that night I set my alarm for 4 AM; the puppies next feeding. I thought to myself Am I really ready to do this again? I didn’t know for sure. One thing I knew, as I drifted off to sleep, was that the next six weeks would be something I would never forget.
Gimel, Pe, and Vav at 5 weeks.
Eva, the puppy who started it all, the day she was born.
