If you are lucky enough, you will meet someone who will change your life; and that someone just might happen to have four legs and a furry coat. We fall madly in love with dogs and cats of all sizes and shapes, these amazing creatures we rescue, some with years of knowing and weariness in their eyes, others still new enough to this world that they carry with them that magical child-like optimism as they breathe puppy breath on you or “make biscuits” with their paws while purring a song for you. They may trust you immediately or not, but ultimately they will love you beyond measure.
If you are lucky enough, you will have the patience and do the work necessary to draw the terrified rescue dog from under the bed, or car, or house, one treat at a time. You will learn not to open the newspaper with a quick snap before you read it because the sound makes your seemingly tough rescue dog cower, remembering his life before you came along.
If you are lucky enough, the cat that showed up on your doorstep too sick to stand will always remember who saved him. He will rub his face on you every chance he gets, reminding you just exactly who owns whom.
And if you are really truly lucky, lucky enough to pick just the right day to go to the animal shelter, you will certainly meet someone who will change your life. You will show up on just the right day to pick out a border collie/cocker spaniel mix who got her beauty from the spaniel side and her brains from the collie side and she will be your very best friend. She will love you unconditionally and be thrilled to greet you every time you open the door.
She will chase ducks off your dock by the lake; sprinting down the stairs and out the dog door as if she has been shot out of a cannon- letting those ducks know they are not welcome on her dock. She will enjoy the lake and the sun and years later she will enjoy the beach and the Gulf, running out into the waves and chasing birds that might remind her a bit of those ducks on her dock years ago. She will roll in the sand while you laugh because at that moment she looks more like a powdered donut that the smartest dog on the planet.
On one very important day, she will wait expectantly at the door as you bring your miracle baby home from the hospital and she will spend the next nearly seven years dutifully guarding the child, because she inexplicably knows that child is part of YOU.
She will spend her whole life knowing that you believe you rescued her, when she has known the truth all along- it was really always the other way around…
if you were lucky enough.
Written for Mollie Bowden (1995-2011), and the people she owned- Gayla Bowden & Kat Crimmel.
If you are lucky enough, you will have the patience and do the work necessary to draw the terrified rescue dog from under the bed, or car, or house, one treat at a time. You will learn not to open the newspaper with a quick snap before you read it because the sound makes your seemingly tough rescue dog cower, remembering his life before you came along.
If you are lucky enough, the cat that showed up on your doorstep too sick to stand will always remember who saved him. He will rub his face on you every chance he gets, reminding you just exactly who owns whom.
And if you are really truly lucky, lucky enough to pick just the right day to go to the animal shelter, you will certainly meet someone who will change your life. You will show up on just the right day to pick out a border collie/cocker spaniel mix who got her beauty from the spaniel side and her brains from the collie side and she will be your very best friend. She will love you unconditionally and be thrilled to greet you every time you open the door.
She will chase ducks off your dock by the lake; sprinting down the stairs and out the dog door as if she has been shot out of a cannon- letting those ducks know they are not welcome on her dock. She will enjoy the lake and the sun and years later she will enjoy the beach and the Gulf, running out into the waves and chasing birds that might remind her a bit of those ducks on her dock years ago. She will roll in the sand while you laugh because at that moment she looks more like a powdered donut that the smartest dog on the planet.
On one very important day, she will wait expectantly at the door as you bring your miracle baby home from the hospital and she will spend the next nearly seven years dutifully guarding the child, because she inexplicably knows that child is part of YOU.
She will spend her whole life knowing that you believe you rescued her, when she has known the truth all along- it was really always the other way around…
if you were lucky enough.
Written for Mollie Bowden (1995-2011), and the people she owned- Gayla Bowden & Kat Crimmel.
I hope everyone who has a place in their heart and home will choose that frightened, skinny, hopeful faced animal from a rescue organization. Because as Sherry said, you may be the one being rescued. I know I was.
ReplyDeleteI was rescued too, Katherine!
ReplyDelete