by Jennie Lloyd | Photo courtesy of Amber and Zach Litwack
When Zach met Amber in 1997, they were both undergraduates at
the University of Tulsa. The two were walking out of their classes for the day when suddenly a thunderstorm hit. “We ducked under the same overhang to wait out the rain,” Amber says. “We started chatting and hit it off immediately. We realized we had a lot in common.”
The two dated for a year and a half and then went their separate ways.
“Zach spent a decade in Chicago and returned to Tulsa in December of 2011,” Amber says. “We reconnected soon after and have been inseparable ever since.”
After one fateful downpour and a meet cute, separation, and reunion, Amber and Zach Litwack are now happily married and celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary on October 4, 2022.
Enter Lola
Lola the French Bulldog joined the happy couple in their happily-ever-after home in October 2015. She was a young rescue dog dealing with a difficult past when the Litwacks brought her home.
“From what we understand,” Amber says, “before she came to us, she was in two different homes with other dogs who bullied and picked on her. She’s very uneasy around other dogs, especially larger breeds, because of her past experiences. So we’re very careful when socializing her with other animals. Despite a rough start, she is the absolute sweetest girl who loves every person she meets.”
Frenchies are a funny, personable breed. Amber and Zach are big fans. “They’re wonderful companions, and we think they are one of the cutest — and funniest — breeds in existence,” Amber says.
Lola is approximately 11 years old and gentle yet spunky. She has a soft white coat and a whimsical face with large, dark eyes and perky ears.
She speaks in what her owners call Frenchie talk, a soft growl-whine-coo that many dogs in the breed are known to engage in as a way to communicate with their owners.
“Zach plays music in a couple of bands,” Amber says, “and has often joked about creating a metal album using recordings of her Frenchie talk as the vocals.”
A few of Lola’s favorite things include taking evening walks downtown with her mom and dad, dining on patios, especially Queenies, and cruising in her stroller. (“Yes, we’re those people!” Amber laughs.) Lola is also a regular at the Saturday flea market at the fairgrounds and likes to check out all the pet-friendly stores at Utica Square.
Although Lola enjoys being out on the town, she also enjoys “spending time at home with us, snuggling on the couch” just as much, Amber says.
Helping with Work
During the workweek, ”Lola gets up with us every morning and has her breakfast,”
Amber says. Dinner is at 6 p.m. In between meals, Lola lounges and takes short walks or has outside time. She also stays involved with her parents’ work lives.
Amber is the executive director of Tulsa Foundation for Architecture. “Lola occasionally accompanies me to work,” Amber says. Nowadays, Zach is “often able to work from home, and Lola enjoys staying home with him,” Amber says. Lola “is great for emotional support when he’s on a tight deadline.”
Amber has worked in the nonprofit world for the past two decades and has a “great passion for serving Tulsa,” she says. In addition, she serves on the board of directors for 108 Contemporary and Goff Fest and is a commissioner on the city of Tulsa’s Route 66 Commission.
Zach is a filmmaker in residence at Oklahoma State University–Tulsa, where he leads community filmmaking workshops. He is helping OSU to develop a for-credit film program and a community film lab. He is also editing a feature film and working on personal projects.
Gastronomic Adventures
Unfortunately, Lola has chronic pancreatitis, which means the Litwacks have had to adjust her diet to manage her illness. Lola now eats prescription food and treats and “gets far less human food than she used to,” Amber says. Lola can have bites of chicken, apples, blueberries, bananas, and carrots — all of which she loves. Before Lola developed pancreatitis, she adored peanut butter and cheese, Amber says, and any other human food she could find.
In fact, one notorious Lola story involves
her eating an entire Christmas gift — twice — because it smelled like food.
”She’s never been the type of dog to get into things,” Amber says. “So I didn’t think twice about putting a wrapped gift under the tree that contained a few bars of African dark chocolate and a handmade bow tie for a friend. Zach and I left for a short period of time and came home to find that Lola had unwrapped the gift and eaten all of the chocolate. We rushed her to the vet, and she recovered well, thankfully.”
But that isn’t the end of the story. “A couple of days later, I rewrapped the bow tie and put it back under the tree,” Amber says. Again, the Litwacks left and returned to find the gift unwrapped and the bow tie missing. And again, they rushed Lola to the vet in a panic. They arrived “just in time for them to be able to pull the bow tie up through her throat without surgery,” Amber says.“The vet walked in holding the very long bow tie. I’ll never understand how Lola managed to swallow it whole without choking, but she was completely fine.”
The bow tie still smelled like chocolate, and that’s what Lola was after. “We learned a very valuable lesson — not to put anything food related or that smells like food under our tree!” Amber laughs.
Normally, life is more low-key at the Litwack household. The happy couple who fell in love in a downpour gave Lola a happily-ever-after too — a peaceful home. And another valuable lesson is that love can grow and thrive, even after a rough start — or a thunderstorm.
