The Story of How a Dog Walked a Couple Through Their Infertility Struggle

On this episode of Our American Stories, our regular contributor Stephen Rusiniak shares the story about his four-legged family member who helped him and his wife through their struggle with infertility.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. Up next, we
have a piece from one of our regular contributors, Stephen Versiniac.
This story is entitled Harry My first Born. To read
this story and its backstory, visit Stephenarsiniac dot com. Here's Stephen.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
This is a story about a time when my wife
Karen and I welcomed into our family a precious little
bundle of joy who happened to have floppy years, a snout,
four legs in a tail. But first, I suppose that
a small confession is in order before I share my story.

(00:52):
There was once a time when I held a less
than flattering opinion of a certain kind of dog Arnor,
And I'm sure that you have seen them before too.
At first glance, they might appear to be perfectly normal,
but upon closer inspection, and he previously held opinion pertaining

(01:13):
to their alleged normalcy quickly disappears. Watching the interaction between
the two species for a moment, and it becomes readily
apparent that the collared creature tethered to the business end
of the leash is much more than just the family pet.
Study them for a little while longer, and you may

(01:36):
even witness this goofy dog owner walking, talking, and sometimes
even wearing the same matching sweater as Fifi, Fido, Rover
or Rex. Now, as far as I'm concerned, no further
evidence is needed before concluding that the two legged, snoutless

(01:56):
half of this fashionably matching pair. So how believes that
this four legged creature is They're not quite human and
very hairy little offspring. And let's be real, I know
fully well that acting as though in treating your pet
as if it were your child is just weird right, Well,

(02:22):
at least that's what I used to think until the
day an adorable little puppy came into my life and
suddenly I learned just how little I knew about canine relationships.
So Karen and I had the perfect recipe for our
life together as husband and wife, and it went much
like the old schoolyard song. You remember, first comes love,

(02:45):
then comes marriage, then well you know the rest. The
plan was to save up some money, buy a house,
fill it with kids, and then live happily ever after.
And you know something, it all went just as we
had planned too, that is, until we discovered that there

(03:06):
was a problem with the kids. Part of the program.
As we struggled to overcome this seemingly insurmountable roadblock to parenthood,
we became parents, well sort of. We decided to adopt
a dog, but not just any dog. We wanted a

(03:26):
rescue dog, a real life pound puppy, and so one
afternoon we called the local shelter to see if they
had any and as it turned out, they did, and
he had been waiting for us to meet him. He
had been abandoned, unwanted, starving, and not yet six weeks

(03:48):
old when someone left him one night in the shelter.
Van volunteers suggested that maybe he was a mix between
a Lab and a beagle, or a Beagle and a Doberman,
or a Doberman and a well, there were just as
many possible combinations offered as opinions rendered. But in the end,

(04:12):
whatever his puppy pedigree happened to be, we really didn't care,
because this tiny black and brindle bundle of trembling puppy
arrived at a time in our lives when we needed
him just as much as he needed us. We brought

(04:34):
him home and we named him Harry. But years later,
whenever I happened to mention him I would refer to
him as our first born, which, to the astute listener,
should serve as a clue as to how that previously
mentioned kids part of the program eventually turned out. Now,

(04:56):
as with the arrival of any new family member, his
wants and needs quickly surpassed our own, and suddenly we
wondered how we had ever gotten along without him. Every
day became another lesson any adventures of puppy parenting, and
like all new parents, we simply marveled at the physical
changes that seemed to occur to our little guy almost daily.

(05:20):
We tried to imagine how big he would one day
become when he finally grew into those massive paws, which
fratuitously never happened, as he forever remained a small dog
with big paws. We celebrated all of his little achievements, too,
like when he finally slept through the night, and when
he mastered a few simple silly tricks, and we were

(05:43):
especially thrilled when he learned to tell us when nature
necessitated his visiting that special spot that we had set
aside for him beside our woodpile in the backyard instead
of on the family room floor beside the sliding glass door,
And of course our neighbors came to know the newest
puppy on the block there in our frequent strolls around

(06:06):
the neighborhood, and naturally we delight it in showing off
our little bundle of joy. And if someone somehow had
missed his utter cuteness first hand, up close and personal,
there were always Harry photos available to keep everyone in
the puppy loop. Photos taken it six weeks and then

(06:28):
seven wide awake and asleep, given puppy kisses on family vacations,
or just romping around the backyard. Photos from last month,
last week, or even last night. I was just another
proud puppy pop showing off for all to see, my
adorable puppy son. And well, the thing is, I can't

(06:55):
explain the circumstances surrounding my transformation of how I had
somehow mysteriously morphed into the very same type of dog
owner that once upon a time had caused me hilarious
bouts of comedic cackling. Oh, I'd become one of them,
all right, But once I had, I could never imagine

(07:16):
being anything else. Suddenly two years had come and gone,
and Harry was of course, by then a full fledged
member of the family, our lives were nothing less than perfect,
or so we thought. But circumstances previously unseen were about

(07:38):
to change our happy household and change it forever. When
Karen shared the news with me, Harry didn't seem too excited. Instead,
he just yawned and stretched and went right back to sleep.
He couldn't have cared less about babies, whatever they were.

(08:00):
But this would soon change when Michael was born, and
two years later when Tracy joined our pack, and in
the end, Harry would prove to be an awesome big
brother to his little two legged siblings. But well, that's
a story for another time. Oh and as for me,

(08:23):
I suppose that I should offer an addendum to my
original confession from all those years ago, and it is this.
I am still one of those goofy dog owners, the
very same kind that I once found hysterical. But hey,
don't tell anyone. Instead, let's just keep this a secret

(08:45):
between you and me and my current Harry, little four
legged rescue, my bestest buddy in the world, my puppy
son Bailey, and a.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
Great job as always by faith on the production on
that piece, and a special thanks to Stephen Rossiniac for
sharing the story of Harry with all of us, and
if you have great dog stories, send them to our
American stories dot com. Stephen Rossiniac, The story of Harry
is first born here on our American Stories