We were going shoe shopping, or so I thought. In the parking lot, just a few doors down from the intended shoe store was a sign. “Adoption day,” it said. Then I said the famous last words of every person who came home with an unintended dog: we could just look.

There were makeshift cages just inside the automatic doors. A nonprofit farm was set up there to find homes for 13 puppies. Their mom had died during the birth. Inside these pens, I found a pile of chunky black lab puppies. They were so damn cute with those big paws and floppy ears laying on top of each other sleeping.

As children and other people approached, the puppies started to shift and stretch. Then I saw her. At the very bottom of the pile laid a tiny three-pound runt with pointy ears. “Is this a chihuahua?” I asked the owner.

She laughed. “Oh no, that’s the runt.”

I picked her up without realizing I’d never put her down. As I held the three-pound puppy with one big ear that smelled like pee, I fell in love against my will.

My girlfriend at the time did, too. We did a lap of the pet store, but we couldn’t talk ourselves out of it. The deal was done. Our hearts were gone. We even had the perfect name already picked out: Lyric.

While I expected the hard parts of the shift from free agents to dog parents, Lyric changed my life so much more than I imagined. She was supposed to only be 30-40 pounds. She’s almost 70 now. They said she was a sweet calm puppy. Turns out, she had worms. When she got healthy, she was a stubborn puppy. She would look me dead in the eye as she peed on my carpet.

That was nine years ago. The ferocious puppy is now a docile old dog with new gray hairs on her nose every time I see her. This week, that old girl had surgery. She has cancer. This grief that she won’t live forever is coinciding with the anniversary of another year of Three Ears Media.

It has been six years since I did a spin in my office chair trying to brainstorm company names. I’ll never forget looking at that puppy and her big pointy ear and then shouting, “Three Ears Media!” So many things have happened since then—a story I never could have written for myself, even with my wildest imagination.

Reflecting on how much I love this dog and my life now makes me exceptionally grateful for the unexpected. As much as I try to plan my life away, the unexpected things—a dog, a company—have brought overwhelming joy to my life.

I have been working behind the scenes on what’s next for Three Ears Media—new research, trainings, and webinars—and as much as I want to control and know everything that is to come, the gray hair on Lyric’s nose is my reminder that the best things ahead are unexpected.