(707) - Phone - Call

That last two times that I have received a phone call from Canine Companions when I was expecting a Pre-Match call, they came between 10:00 am and 10:30 am. So it was not a surprise that I stopped my world today during those thirty minutes to prepare for the call about Kolby.

Although the call didn't come. So I continued to wait and continued to watch mindless television while I kept looking at the clock. I waited and waited and decided that I should run the errand that I had to run; getting supplies to complete my daughter's costume for her upcoming Dessert Theater production.

So I set out, with my cell phone turned up loud, and a notebook on the passenger's seat to scribble down any pertinent info for when our Puppy Program Manager would ring. I made it the forty minutes to the art store without a call. I started to shop. Nothing.

I had gathered all the supplies when I got a text from my dear friend that the first call to our Chapter had been placed; no match. At least I knew the calls had started, but I was bummed to hear this particular dog hadn't found her person.

I wandered the store thinking that maybe I would catch the next phone call, but still nothing. I purchased my items and drove home the way I had come: with cell phone turned up loud and a notebook on the passenger's seat  ...

I made it all the way home to arrive to a flashing light on my answering machine. Never, in the three years of volunteering for Canine Companions, have they ever dialed my home number. What are the odds, a good lesson learned to not rely on what I think is the common path for an answer.

And then the answer came via the voice mail. I scribbled a note ... it was this:

Kolby did not make a match. He decided that he would patiently wait, continue his focus on studying and perfecting his skills for the next opportunity when Graduates come to campus. And so we will wait right alongside him, cheering him on to keep motivated for his turn.

It is bittersweet: of course I support him wanting to get the match he deserves; the perfect person. But at the same time, it means we aren't road trekking next week, we aren't seeing the dogs who will Graduate next, their puppy raisers and forever person, and we won't be surrounded by the friends we thought we were going to be surrounded by had Kolby decided to match.

However, in the end we sincerely know this answer is perfect, and it will stay perfect while we wait for Kolby's Final Answer.