Valentines, Flowers and a Dead Snake

In the land of sugar and spice and everything nice, I wasn't quite prepared for my first "boy" valentine. But from the realm of snips and snails and puppy dog tails, I received a gift to scream for. Those who read this blog will know that I found two adorable puppies on the edge of the interstate in early January. Yes, we still have them. No, we haven't as yet found the perfect home for both of them. We are getting close, though, and my heart will break a bit. In their little puppy innocense and their gentle kisses and bounding enthusiasm at my bedside in the morning, I have felt again what it's like to be a mother and to be loved as one.
I was relaxing at home on a rare night off with my husband, when I was presented with my puppy "Valentine." The little pooch, whom we call Scout, came bounding in from outside and hopped up on my lap, snuggling next to me on the couch. Usually, he's perfectly content to plop down and stay for a few minutes before finding a place to sleep on the floor. This time, he was behind me and wriggling a little too much. I leapt to my feet, feeling something foreign on my back and saw a long, thin shape that I recognized by screams before I did by sight.My husband confirmed that I had been presented with a dead snake. Granted it was only about as big around as a pencil and slightly longer than one, but it was still a snake. Matt grabbed it up and took it outside and I tried to calm down. I'm usually quite rational, but I was a bit weirded out by the thought of a dead snake on my couch with me!
A little while later, the dogs were coming back in from an outdoor potty trip. I can still see little Scout in slow motion. That "thing" was in his mouth and he was headed straight for me. Needless to say my hysteria reached a new level, but was contained as soon as the snake made it to the garbage can outside.
I only have a little girl, so I'm using this boy puppy experience to imagine what it would be like to have a male child. As my husband was trying to tell me, the snake was a gift, a present, and expression of love. As a mom, I've learned to rave about all of Faith's gifts to me. Just the other day I became so frustrated while trying to get out of the house to get back to work and I couldn't find Faith. She had gone out again in the rain when I told her it was too nasty outside. I saw her coming up the driveway and I was about to reprimand her when I noticed the flowers. She had been out in the rain picking a bouquet for me. My heart melted and the reprimand softened considerably. I know you're never supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth, but nobody ever prepared me for the dead snake.
- Liz Fabian