For years, our kids begged for a dog. Having a chronically ill husband who was suffering from cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart) for many years, who eventually got a heart transplant and later a kidney transplant, we certainly didn't have the time or the energy for a pet. But now that my kids are 19 and 15 and my husband is healthy, there are no more life distractions. We now had room in our heart and energy in our daily lives for a fur baby.

Over the summer, we finally got a puppy, a mutt we got from a family friend. Although my husband, Jason, was not quite sold, because of his own fears for health reasons, it only took 10 seconds upon seeing the puppy to say "yes, we can keep him." My son, Isaiah, named him Koopa Troopa. And boy did we fall in love. We fell hard. We had no idea how a little furball could transform our lives.

Jason and I feel like we are first time parents in our mid-forties. First time parents whose discipline standards flew out the window the minute we laid eyes on him. Koopa sleeps with us, or maybe the better word is, he "snuggles" right smack in the middle of us every night. We meal prep for him and boil him chicken and rice. We take him for walks a few times a day and try not to leave him alone for too long during the day. Yup, we admit it. We spoil this little guy and he knows he has us wrapped around his little paws.

While most people may get a fancy sports car during a midlife crisis, we got ourselves a puppy. Our phones are filled with pictures of our baby Koopa. Even though it was our kids who really wanted a dog, it was my husband and I who really needed him. After going through some tough times with health issues whille raising two little ones for many years, Koopa couldn't have come at a more perfect time. He was that one missing piece of our family puzzle that completed our lives.