When it Rains, It Pours...

When it rains, it rains. When it pours, it reminds me of a relationship in the last stages of being. It’s cold, hard and sometimes it leaves you wet, as in tears. What better thing to do on a cold rainy day, than to see puppies. It's free, fun and relatively harmless, like the beginning stages of a relationship. 

Mind you, I’m going through this whole “visit the puppies” thing blind. I went to said puppy store in November, back before I even moved in. Its now late May, and I’m unsure if the store has closed, moved or is exactly the same.

It stayed exactly the same, even had the same workers. As we looked around, gawking at the sleeping puppies, wondering which one we would play with, I got to thinking about choosing.

Why do we always choose? What the difference between the puppy with long ears or the one with long hair? The cat with grey fur or black fur? Why do we choose that guy or that girl? Or that career? Those friends? That outfit. 

My roommate and I settled on a boxer with the saddest eyes. I just had to hold him, give him a few kisses. My classmates choose a black kitten, who meowed at them the minute they walked in. As we played, and ultimately, fell in love with the animals, I had to ask why they chose that kitten.

“Well, I always wanted a black cat so I could name him shadow.”

“Why did we choose the boxer?” I asked the roommate.

She shrugged and said, “I’m not sure but would you just look at him!”

As we left the puppy store, our hearts sinking deeper into our chests and our stomach rumbling, we chose to go to dinner. I couldn’t get the word “choose” out of my head. We can choose to have the hamburger, the salad or pasta. We can choose to drink a soda, water or tea. We chose to sit at a booth instead of a table.

I needed expert advice. I needed someone who would be real with me. I needed newly single. I texted her and asked why she chose her boyfriend. She responded back, “he was so sweet and funny and we had a good time and relaxed. We hung out and we talked.”

I believe I got my answer. We choose the things that seem right. The things that won’t hurt us but instead love us. The ones that will always be there for us, the ones we can be ourselves around. We chose the boxer because he was cute. They chose the kitty because they wanted to name it shadow.

I chose to get the bacon cheeseburger. Tell me something, what do you choose? Why?