Abby's First Day

In the classifieds of The News & Observer was an ad for Labrador puppies. The litter was in Bailey, a small town around 45 min east of Raleigh. I didn’t want to go and help pick out a dog since I didn’t want the dog or anything to do with the process of finding it. But my cousin, her 12 year old daughter and Nikki did go along with my mom. So, off to Bailey they go in my cousin’s Ford Bronco. It was a two-door built in the late 80s/ early 90s that was at the front of the wave of the rise in SUVs in the 90s.

I know next to nothing about the breeders of the litter that Abby came from. All I do know is that when my mom bought Abby, the breeders said they might stop by sometime to see how Abby was doing. (They never did.)

I also don’t know much about Abby’s parents. Her dad was a strapping 115 pounder, and Abby’s mom did not like Nikki. As a matter of fact, Abby’s mom and Nikki got into a fight, so Nikki had to spend the rest of the time in the Bronco.

I was curious—years later— how my mom chose Abby from the litter. While my mom, her niece and her grand-niece were looking over the puppies, Abby was the one who followed them around. She was curious, outgoing and seemed to be friendly, so Abby was the one.

The first time I saw Abby, she was sleeping on the grand-niece’s lap. Abby was a floppy and cute puppy, but what does one expect from a puppy? By definition, puppies are cute, so what. I don’t remember much else about that day. It was in late April, sunny and mild. I do remember Abby later walking around the backyard sniffing around curiously. The only other thing I remember about Abby from that day is that she spent the night in my mom’s room.


My mom named Abby in honor of her mom. Even though my grandmother’s name was Pearl, many people called her ‘Abby’ when she was growing up, which is short for Abbott, her maiden name.