If you’ve seen a romance based movie, you know what love at first sight is. You see someone, and instantly you feel a connection so strong, that you can’t imagine your life with anyone else but them. You’ve found your soulmate, or something along those lines. I was walking out of a lab for my psychology class when I saw him. He was sitting with another person, facing the building, and our eyes met for the first time. His face held a look of amused excitement, while a smile of about ten miles crept across my face. I stepped off the path leading down to the library, and cut across the grass. With every passing inch, my excitement multiplied, and he jumped up from his spot on the grass to greet me. I reached out to him, his cheek resting in the palms of my shaking hands. And then he kissed me, and I just about melted. I knew right then that we were going to spend forever together; And the next day, I printed out the adoption papers.

I grew up around dogs. Everyone in my family had one, and each and every one of them were incredibly special to us. I was two when we got Jasmine, and we instantly bonded. She was a small black poodle, who wasn’t supposed to grow any bigger than a chicken, but as she kept growing, so did our love for her. She grew to be the size of a pony, and a mischievous one at that. She once at a whole pan full of kielbasa and sauerkraut, and earned herself a spot outside until it she stopped going to the bathroom. I think that’s when she took a liking to the sandbox, because after that, we could never get her out.

She chased squirrels, let us put diapers on her head, and dress her up to play princesses with us. She gave kisses, cuddled up to us on the couch, and always let me use her as a pillow when we lay on the floor after long days of preschool, and eventually my first days after starting high school. She was 12 by the time I started high school, and as much as we didn’t want to believe it, our time with her was coming to an end.

After her, I couldn’t imagine my life without a dog in it. Anyone that knows me well enough knows that if I see a dog, I will go out of my way to go over and tell it how much of a good boy/girl they are. It doesn’t matter if I’m running late, on my way to an important meeting, or in the most awful of moods: I will pet all the dogs I see on my travels. This is why it came to no surprise to my boyfriend when I told him we needed this one specific dog.

I met Papa Frito, a very loving boxer/American pit bull, on September 6th, and the next day I was already filling out his adoption papers; On the 8th I was buying everything we needed to make him feel at home; On the 9th, we were on our way home with a very sleepy puppy in our laps.

Before Papa came to the shelter we got him from, he was living outside and in someone’s basement. Like many (but not all) other shelter dogs, he had a lot going on. He had fleas, ear and skin infections, and loved to play tug-o-war with his leash. As we understand it, he was very misunderstood; He matched people’s excitement, which meant kids weren’t the best for him to be around. He never really hurt anyone, but he was too much for the family that adopted him after his first time coming to the shelter. The dog we adopted didn’t match the description they gave us, and it was hard to see why anyone would pass up the opportunity to take home such a loving soul. He loves to snuggle and take naps, play tug-o-war with his rope toys, sit pretty for treats, and get scratchies from just about anyone he passes on the street. I’m so lucky to have met Papa, and adopt him into a forever home with all the love we can possibly provide.

Because of Papa, I fully believe in love at first sight. As soon as he looked my way, and rolled on his back for me to rub his belly, I knew he was the one for me. It was like that instant connection I had with Jasmine, and I’ll be damned if they aren’t the same soul. If you’ve seen the trailers for, or read the book “A Dog’s Purpose” (and if you haven’t, go watch it right now, with tissues), then you know what I’m talking about. The same dog’s soul travels to a new dog each time it’s physical body passes away. Papa was born the same year Jasmine passed away, maybe a few months or so in between, but it’s still an incredible coincidence. There will never be another Jasmine; I won’t have a big black poodle barking at me to flush a left behind piece of toilet paper just so she can get a drink, or have a big bear to walk down the street when she gets blow dried after a bath; But I do have a Papa Frito; I have found the same love that I had for Jasmine, someone to cuddle with when I can’t sleep past 6 in the morning, someone to give a second chance to, and love forever. And that’s perfectly fine with me.