Tragedy struck the household of Flossmoor, Illinois resident Vicki Burke in late October when her 40-year-old husband, Steve, died unexpectedly.
The sudden passing left her and her two sons, Andrew, 9, and Ryan, 5, with broken hearts and a big, empty space where their husband and father used to be.
“After Steve died, I thought about getting a dog. A dog was never an option when Steve was here—he was horribly allergic. I looked at the listings (online) and nothing really called to me.”
That’s largely because all of Burke’s former pets came to her serendipitously she says, citing an experience in her youth when a stranger thrust a puppy into her hands, got into her car and sped off. Because of this, Burke resolved that fate would bring her a dog if it were meant to be.
“I knew I couldn’t just go find a dog,” Burke said. “I knew a dog would have to find me, somehow.”
Facing their first Christmas without Steve, Burke had all but given up hope when her octogenarian father, Homewood resident Russ Bensley, offered a suggestion.
“My dad said, ‘Well, every now and then they do a thing on the Patch about a dog who needs a home,’” Burke said.
Two days later, Patch posted an “Adopt Me” feature showcasing Amarillo, a big, five-year-old yellow lab. Amarillo was recently left tied to the fence of the South Suburban Humane Society.
“I thought, no. Bad idea. Crazy,” Burke said.
A few days later, they adopted Amarillo—but not without renaming him, “Scoop.” Burke says the name is a nod to Patch for helping her find him.
‘A Sign from Steve’
“We don’t know why there was an old, beat-up tennis ball in the house because we never had a dog. And he finds it under Steve’s desk,” Burke said. “There are people who believe—and I’m not saying they’re wrong and I’m not saying they’re right—that Steve sent this dog to us. There’s one person who believes this is Steve.”
While she may not be convinced that their new pet is channeling the spirit of her former husband, Burke isn’t discounting the coincidence.
“There’s a ‘meant to be’ factor, for sure, that I can’t argue with,” she said. “I feel like I’ve had this black cloud over me. I feel like bad things keep happening. I feel like I need to do something to change our fortune. I wonder if maybe we need this dog as he needs us.”
Scoop can’t make up for the loss of Steve, but he’s helping the Burkes get through it the best way he knows how.
“He’s just love,” Burke said. “Ninety pounds of pure, unadulterated love.”
~ Courtesy of Homewood-Flossmoor Patch
Tags: adoption, shelter dog
