In retrospect, this was one of those moments that could have changed our lives.

It was early 2002 when Lucy, a sweet little Shih Tzu who lived with friends of ours in Kaaawa, had puppies. Of course, I went over to take some pictures. We could have had our choice of the litter, and they were all great choices! But we had a bunch of cats at home–probably six or seven at that time–and we felt we weren’t up to the challenge of integrating a puppy, especially since we knew a lot about cats at that point, but virtually nothing about living with a dog.

So we chickened out. But looking back, I realize what a difference it would have made in the long run.