A change of plans

This morning, Ben and I gave Tucker back to my mom. We had the little pup for less than a week, but in that time we were able to realize he'd be happier in a home with a yard than he'd ever be in an apartment. Needless to say, it was heartbreaking. Ben and I had been preparing to welcome Tucker to our lives for months, and I'd actually been looking forward to it since we first got that schnoodle when I was 17. But the things we look forward to don't always pan out, and sometimes it really is for the best.

I think this is one of those times.

It's hard to have long-term plans not pan out, but that's just how life works sometimes. The vast majority of plans I had as a teenager didn't end up working out, and that's just fine with me. The main reason this one hurt as much as it did was because my plan at 17 to take Tucker one day didn't disappear when I left high school — I carried it with me over the years, through college and through the first year of post-grad.

Whenever a plan or a hope doesn't work, it's easy to get lost in the disappointment. I've always been a very big fan of the notion that everything happens for a reason. I know not everyone believes this, but I do. In times of stress or sadness, it brings me peace to think of what good could come from it. When I was 17, I thought I'd go to UNC Chapel Hill and stay living in the triangle, maybe eventually moving to NYC if I really struck it big. I moved to Virginia for school, met some of my best friends and met Ben, and was blessed with the opportunity to move to Charlotte for work. I'm glad that happened instead.

Right now, it stings to think that we don't and won't have Tucker here with us in Charlotte. But I'm sure if you ask me about this in a year I'll reflect on how disappointing it was, but what good came from it in the aftermath. I'm happy that Tucker is (probably) sitting on my parents' carpet right now with a bone, at peace. I'm happy that Ben and I have an apartment we love in a city we love. I don't know what's around the corner, but I'm ready to see what the silver lining is to this turn of events.