Wait For It

My son, Dan, and I are in the backyard enjoying a cold beer on the patio when Hobbes, his four-year-old mini-Australian shepherd, tears out of the house and bounds to a corner of the yard. Within seconds, the thirty-pound dog drops a well-used Frisbee at Dan’s feet. 

As Dan leans over to pick up the bright red disc, the dog squeals and dances with frenzied excitement. I can’t help but laugh at his infantile antics. But my son doesn’t toss the toy right away like I do when Hobbes and I play fetch. 

Instead, Dan makes eye contact with Hobbes. “Sit,” he commands. 

Hobbes reluctantly obeys but continues to yelp and wiggle with impatient enthusiasm. Dan raises his hand like a crossing guard. 

In a soft but authorial voice, he says, “Wait for it.” 

Eyes riveted on my son’s, the dog settles on his haunches, his painful pleas for play subside. I marvel at Hobbes’ understanding of Dan’s commands, and how quickly he reigned in his emotions. Dan doesn’t make Hobbes wait too long. 

“Good boy,” Dan raises his arm and flicks the frisbee. 

Once the toy is airborne, Hobbes takes off. With uncanny accuracy, he leaps and pirouettes as the disc descends, snatching it out of the air like a true athlete. 

I clap my hands. “Amazing,” I say to Dan, impressed with Hobbes remarkable athleticism and his ability to defer gratification. 

Within seconds Hobbes is back in front of Dan and drops the Frisbee for another go round. 

A few weeks after the remarkable fetch episode with Hobbes, I headed to Sarasota for the scheduled walk through of my new condo in a luxury building that has experienced multiple construction delays over the past year. With each fresh setback, I was forced to either extend or secure a new short-term rental, which meant a whole lot of packing, schlepping, unpacking, and reorganizing. 

Like Hobbes, with each inconvenience I did an exorbitant amount of squealing before landing in acceptance mode. The axiom I invoked to settle myself was similar to the one Dan used with his pet: This will be worth waiting for.

As I write this, I’m in Sarasota. It’s a sweltering summer afternoon, and I’m grateful for the air conditioning at my friend Robbie’s home. Minutes ago, I received a call from the developer rescheduling the appointment to view my finished unit and complete the pre-closing punch list. A sprinkler had malfunctioned and flooded several floors (not mine), knocking out the elevators. Another setback.

Part of me wanted to howl with frustration, but another part wanted to laugh. “Wait for it” ran through my mind. 

Sighing, I reigned in my emotions and readily agreed to hike up the thirteen floors to see my unit the following day if the elevators were still inoperable. 

Your guess is as good as mine as to whether the sprinkler fiasco will turn out to be a serious delay and if another short-term rental is in my future before taking ownership of my much-anticipated new winter home. Delayed gratification is a learned skill, one that all of us—including pets—must learn in order to reap the rewards that thrill and satisfy our innermost yearnings.

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed  by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” -Mark Twain

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In September (1-16th) Julie will join Laura Davis (The Writer’s Journey) and other like-minded pilgrims to hike, write, and paint along the El Camino trail in northern Spain.

In October (18-20th), Julie will attend Florida WritersCon in Orlando, FL with colleagues from the Florida Writers Association (FWA).

In November (14-17th), Julie will attend Story Studio’s four day writing retreat with instructors Rebecca Makkai and Vu Tran at the Guesthouse Hotel in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. The theme for the retreat is “5,000-Word Weekend” and will feature craft talks and one-on-one’s from both instructors.

On February 4, 2025, Julie’s new memoir, Twice the Family: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Sisterhood hits the bookshelves. It’s the long-awaited prequel to her award-winning debut, Twice a Daughter.

 Follow Julie by visiting her website, subscribe to her bimonthly newsletters, and listen to previous podcast recordings where she discusses topics like adoption, identity, and belonging.

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