Allison Pearson

OUR COLUMNIST ON THE HARDEST DECISION SHE HAS EVER HAD TO MAKE

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He adored me and the feeling was mutual

Fifteen years ago this month, I fell in love. My husband knew all about it although he did warn me not to get involved. I didn’t listen, I was a woman possessed. I drove to Luton to meet him. The first time he saw me, he jumped up and licked my ear. When I was putting him in the car, I called home. ‘You don’t understand. He’s so cute,’ I said. ‘Of course, he’s CUTE!’ snapped my husband. ‘Cute is the job description of a puppy.’

I figured that once the family saw the little red poodle – a bunch of tawny curls on a piece of elastic, he couldn’t stop boinging up and down like a yoyo – there would be no question of sending him back to Luton. In this, I was correct. The children loved Django and their father only pretended not to. That first night, the dog was so anxious that I slept on the sofa with him. He lay on my chest, paws splayed, nose tucked under my chin. From that moment on, the poodle was my shadow. Sometimes he stayed so close to my heels that I panicked and thought he was lost.