It was love at first sight when she crossed my path at the entrance to El Navideno, a Christmas-themed restaurant in the mountains of Puerto Rico. She reminded me of Sati, my dog who had died two months earlier while my husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Hawai’i.
We came out with the owner, who wanted to show us a life-size nativity at the restaurant’s adjacent event hall. The dog was by the door, eating my new friend Carmen’s doggie bag.
I squatted to hold her pretty face and a miracle happened. Sati came alive through this dirty stray dog.
“Sati,” I cried, “I would love to take you home!”
To my surprise, Carmen was a rescuer from Fundacion Amor, and she got on the case right away.
The restaurant owner teared up, too. “This dog saved my life,” he said and explained that she once stood up to a criminal who was chasing him, giving her protector a chance to escape.
“La perrita” would finally be safe from animal control, which had killed her five puppies and relentlessly attempted to capture her, the grand prize.
I named the puppy Natividad, which means nativity in Spanish in remembrance of the place we met. But her nickname, Nati, is also very close to the name of the one whose paw prints she follows.
Nati now lives in the lap of luxury on 16 acres in New Jersey with loving parents and two rescued sisters. She spends her days chasing chipmunks, then napping exhausted.
Rescuing Nati is the best that’s ever happened to me.
From the moment I saw her, she erased the pain of losing my best friend and replaced it with a feeling of unconditional love.
Nati follows me everywhere. Nati has made me feel loved more than any other being--human or animal--and her bravery makes me feel safe when I am home alone.
She’s my gift from Sati.
MILFORD, NJ
