Maggie’s life had been full of heartache until the day she met her forever family.

Now, she can’t stop hugging them.

Mary McCraw and her husband, Mark, had just lost their rescue dog, Mischka, to cancer a few months earlier They weren’t sure they wanted to fill that void just yet, but then they met Maggie.

“She melted my heart,” McCraw told The Dodo. “We had lost our other dog a few months prior to meeting Maggie, and this was just a meet and greet in my mind. I didn’t think I was ready for a new dog at the time.”

Halfway There Rescue scheduled the meet and greet and Maggie’s charm was too sweet for the McCraws to resist.

“I bent down so she would not be intimidated, and within seconds she was in my lap and in my life,” McCraw said. “Her story broke our hearts. Meeting her was love at first sight, it was an instant connection. We feel like she was meant to be with us.”

Watch Maggie meeting her new family for the first time here:

Before this happy ending, Maggie had been neglected and used for breeding by her former owners. The rescue paired Maggie with a loving foster family, where she could gain back her strength. After months of healing, she was finally ready for adoption.

“She became one of the sweetest dogs we have ever fostered,” Andra Mack told The Dodo. “The moment that Maggie met her new dad, my husband and I just looked at each other — because we knew. It was like a movie.”

The moment Mack saw Maggie meet the McCraws, she knew she’d found the right match. Maggie couldn’t stop hugging them as if to say, “Thank you.”

“They were meant to be together,” Mack said. “The beam of sunshine that is clear in the video makes me believe that their former dog, Mischka, was looking down on that meeting and smiling.”

The McCraws agree, wholeheartedly. Rescuing the sweet pit bull changed their lives for the better.

“Maggie brings joy to everyone she meets and continually makes our life better,” McCraw said. “Looking into those eyes just makes the world a better place.”