A scared little puppy that appeared to be about three months old was hiding under  a truck in Fort Worth, Texas. The little dog was rescued by Allie, a caring young  woman who wanted to find its owner. Allie thoroughly searched for the puppy’s owner to no avail. Then, she had a brilliant solution. She contacted her sister, Melissa Speziale in Lake Nona, to adopt this sweet pooch. Allie thought this could  be the best medicine for Melissa and her fiancé, Peter, whose wedding plans had to be rescheduled due to COVID. This was a very difficult time for them. With no  assurance of a future date in sight, Melissa and Peter decided to fly to Texas to see  her sister and meet this newly-rescued pooch. The connection was instant. Many  smiles, cuddles and doggie licks later, they decided to name her Mila, and she  “belonged.”

Peter and Melissa drove back to Florida with Mila stretched out in her crate hugging a green dinosaur toy. Sweet and scared, Mila just clung to her little stuffed friend for the entire journey, and the dinosaur continues to be her BFF to  this day.

Mila was the joy in Melissa and Peter’s home during the COVID lockdown.  

Mila has become a well-known “pooch pal” at the dog parks in Laureate Park. She runs with the pack every morning and evening. Well, some mornings she gets distracted. There are feral cats living near the Bovet dog park, and Mila keeps a  sharp eye on them. She is so focused on this task that one morning she jumped the  park fence to take a closer look! Fortunately, both Mila and the feral cats remained  intact!

There is one other thing that sets Mila apart from her dog friends. Mila can open  doors at home. She is an expert at pushing down latches, opening doors, and going  on her way to sun herself. The new home that Melissa and Peter built has latches  on all the doors instead of doorknobs. It is definitely the “house built for Mila.” 

The final joy in all of this? Melissa and Peter will finally become Mr. and Mrs. in November. There is no stopping them now. I can visualize Mila pushing the latch down and opening the door for Melissa to step out into the sunshine on the day of their wedding! Mila is sure to enjoy every moment! Congratulations to Melissa, Peter and Mila on a beautiful outcome!