Nothing happens by chance. Everything we go through always leads us to where we need to be. What is truly ours will find us in time.
The beautiful story of Picasso and how he found his forever family reminded me of this truth. This is how his story began.
Picasso
A woman with a dog named Picasso
In November 2021, a kind person found a Plott hound mix running around the streets of Charleston, West Virginia. He picked her up and took her to the Kanawha-Charleston Humane Society.
He ended up in a shelter because he had no collar or chip and no one claimed him. Shelter volunteers named him Picasso, after the artist, but a malfunction in the shelter’s computer system caused him to become known as Picasso.
Everyone noticed how kind and friendly Picasso was. One of the volunteers, Kim Vigneault, said she hugged him when he first saw her.
“He loves to give hugs. He was so sweet,” she told The Dodo.
His kind behavior was the reason why he was chosen to be one of the shelter dogs that would go to the Christmas Parade. Vigneau walked him in the event. Her goal that night was to get him adopted.
Destined Encounter
There were hundreds of parade attendees. As they walked, Picaso suddenly pulled Vigneau. Somebody caught his eye. That was when Vigneau realized what was happening. Picaso noticed a girl sitting on the curb. She seemed to be upset.
“He put his head against hers and was physically supportive with his face. Then, the girl smiled. I could tell by her body language he was helping her,” Vigneau said.
Out of so many people, he decided to approach her. The girl was sixteen-year-old Abby Ellis, who suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)… a health disorder that affects her blood flow and causes her to faint.
She was having an anxiety attack. Melissa Smoot, Ellis’s mom, was with her that night. Just as she was trying to help her daughter, Picaso ran over to them.“Abby’s head was down on her legs, and she was falling forward. He managed to get his body underneath her and push her back. Then, she started to come around. All I could think was Abby would have face-planted into the ground if that dog had not been there.”
Ellis remembers the moment Picaso helped her.
“I felt his nose against mine. I started to pet him. I felt safe.”
After returning home with her daughter, all Smoot could think about was Picaso. She realized they had to see him again, and they went to the shelter the next day.
When Picaso saw Ellis, he ran to her. He gently hugged her and licked her face.
After witnessing this special moment between them, Smoot didn’t have any doubts. Picaso was coming with them. She shared that Ellis wanted to have a dog for a long time, but Smoot wasn’t sure if the timing was right.
She prayed to God, asking Him for a sign that Ellis was ready. She considers this to be a God wink.
Ready To Start A New Life
After spending 20 days at the shelter, Picaso was moving in with his family.
Ellis’s mom shared that Ellis usually avoided crowds, but that night, it was her who insisted on going to the parade. She is convinced that they were destined to meet and adopt Picaso. It didn’t happen by chance. She considers him a hero.
“I’m so in love with this dog… Not all heroes wear capes… some have a nub tail and a wet nose,” Smoot wrote on her Facebook.
Both Ellis and Picaso fulfilled their long-awaited wishes. Ellis finally has a dog who loves her and makes her feel safe, and Picaso found his forever family who will love him and cherish him just like all pets deserve.
