With the flu running rampant in town, I was not surprised to find the doctor's waiting area over-full. As I stood for a moment by the front desk waiting for a seat to clear I had the opportunity to do my favorite thing: watch people. Scanning the back of the room I saw an eager face grinning and nodding at me. When we made eye contact her eyes lit up like sparklers on the Fourth of July and she motioned for me to come sit next to her.
As soon as I sat down she opened the coloring book she was working in to a new page and offered to let me color with her. The elderly man sitting next to her said gently, "Sally, lets not bother the nice lady, okay Honey?" I assured him that I was honored to be allowed to share in the fun.
"I like kitties best," she said as she thoughtfully eyed the box full of crayons on the table in front of her. "What's your favorite color? I like purple best."
"That's really neat, Sally," I said, "because that's MY favorite color, too!"
Sally already had the purple crayon in her hand, poised to tint the flowers on her page. She only hesitated a second before she handed it to me.
"You can go first." she said as she patted my hand, and for the next while we colored and giggled as only little girls do.
Sally and I finished one set of pages and were about to start another when the nurse came out and called her name. With loving patience the kind old gentleman helped her gather up her crayons, books, and sweater while the nurse waited for him to escort his wife of 63 years into the exam room.
"To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart, and to sing it to them when they have forgotten." - Anonymous
Photo courtesy of www.dhs.ri.govI wish I'd thought to take a picture of the real couple.
I walked into the public restroom to find a little girl waving her hands in the air while talking to her mommy who was still in the stall:
Mommy: Are you washing your hands?
Cutiepie: Yes, Mommy. I finished.
Mommy: Okay. Dry your hands and stay right there. I'll be out in a minute.
Cutiepie: I can't, Mommy.
Mommy: Why not?
Cutiepie, still waving her hands in the air: The towels won't come out.
It was then that I realized why she was waving her her hands around: she was standing in front of the old crank-style papertowel despenser trying to activate a sensor to get a towel. After stifling a chuckle I helped her get one.
Cutiepie to me: Thank you, Ma'am.
Mommy (who was obviously having some serious potty issues and thus unable to come out to check on who was with her daughter): Sarah, are you still there? Is everything alright?
Sarah, to her mother (at which point I literally snorted out a chuckle): Yes, Mommy. This old lady knew how to make it work.
Mommy: Sarah!
Just then another stall opened up and I entered, sparing the poor mother the humiliation of having to face me. While it was the funniest stinkin' thing I'd heard in a while, I knew from experience that Mommy would have been mortified to have had look me in the eye.
Peace, Blessings, and Never doubt that Old Dogs with their Old Tricks do sometimes come in handy!
How does this happen? My nephew is 5 months old and just got out of the hospital with a broken pelvis, broken ribs, a broken arm and a broken hand. FIVE MONTHS OLD!!
it does a pretty good job of grabbing my full attention. If you want to read the whole thing, pop on over to Susan's and check it out. The short of it is that her nephew has been horrible abused and the state of Kentucky is giving him back to the apparently very unreliable family of his abuser - HIS OWN MOTHER! - instead of to Susan's sister who is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker! The whole story is so unreal!
Please pray for his safety and protection. While we never know the whole story, this one sounds pretty cut and dried. I'm afraid I'm one of those radicals that believes that, especially in cases like this one, the abusive parents should have to suffer whatever the child suffered - AND WORSE!
Just thought I'd let you know that the dogs are all safely tucked away in their new homes.
Cindi and Luke went to one family where the MIL is taking Cindi home and plans on spoiling her royally. Cindi will LOVE that! She's gonna get to sleep on the bed and everything! Of course, she's always known she wasn't really a dog and just couldn't understand why us other human types didn't get it! She will get to see Luke often.
Luke will be living with the wife, husband, 3 or 4 kids, a parrot, a ferret, a cockatiel, and a rat-like rodent of some sort - all in the house. Outside they have several other animals including horses, dogs, pigs, chickens and cows (I think. It's a big place and I couldn't tell where their property stopped and the neighbor's started.). He will have room to run and play and lots of loving help doing it.
I didn't get to meet Belle's new family, but this is what Rita told me about them:
Belle is today's miracle answer to a sick little boy's long time prayer. I don't know his real name, but I'm going to call him Will because with everything he's been through, it is only his will to live that's kept him here.
Will is about 7 years old, but he's only the size of a two- to three-year-old. He walks and talks at about that same level, too. He is not expected to live past 10 or 11 years of age. Several years ago the family got the Lassy movie and watched it with Will. He fell in love with collies. One of the longest sentences he says is "MY LASSY!" Any time he sees a collie picture, stuffed toy, figurine, anything, he has to have it. His room is covered with MY LASSYs. His parents could not afford to buy a dog and have it trained to meet Will's needs. When they saw the posting on Freecycle giving one away, they thought that just maybe this might be the answer to their prayers. And so it is.
Belle is a gentle, kind and VERY intelligent animal. When Rita introduced her to Will, she told her that "this baby is now your job." Belle has taken that job very seriously. Will's parents were initially worried that Belle was unhappy because the first day she paced almost nonstop. However, late in the afternoon, Will took Belle for a walk in the back yard UNASSISTED. His mom was astonished. She never thought she'd see him able to walk his own dog. She also was amazed to see Belle obeying Will's commands even though they are spoken in Will-speak and usually only his parents know what he is saying. Belle sits and stays, lays down, and shakes hands on command. She understands Will perfectly and obeys his commands without hesitation.
Friday night Belle slept peacefully on the floor at the foot of Will's bed - between him and the door. When Mom and Dad looked in, Belle immediately came to full alert. She didn't get up, just raised her head and acknowledged their presence, and then went back to sleep guarding her new boy. I'm betting Will had sweet dreams, at last, about his very own MY LASSY.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS. As you can see, they have been answered - and then some.
Hi, everyone. As I sit here writing this my heart is breaking because my friend Rita is having to move into a smaller house with no yard because her current landlord is the south end of a north-bound horse. It's a long story, but because of this move she is going to have to find new homes for her three BEAUTIFUL and WONDERFUL collies.
The two females are show quality, though not show capable because they have been spade. The neutered male is just a big, goofy, loving, kind, funny sweetheart. All three are AKC REGISTERED and great dogs. They are up-to-date on their shots.
WE HAVE TO FIND THEM A NEW HOME BEFORE THE 15TH!!
If you know of anyone who might want one or all of the dogs, please email me at damama002@yahoo.com. They would have to be willing to allow us to check with their vet and/or provide references so we can be sure they are going to a good home.
Rita is in the Houston, Texas, area but would be willing to travel as far as San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Dallas, or Beaumont to bring the dogs for a visit if someone wants to meet them with the SERIOUS intention of giving them good homes.
Here are their pictures and descriptions. PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN!
Christmas! Wow! With a Christmas tree and presents and lights and everything! The little girl stood staring in amazement at decorations as if she’d never seen anything like them before in her life. And in truth, she hadn’t. At 7 years old, this would be her first real Christmas. Her mommy had left her at the welfare office just a few months ago. This kind of beauty and warmth were very different from the cold, empty, dirty apartments and hotel rooms she had always lived in before. This was something she had only ever seen in books. Oh, she’d heard about it, but she thought the other kids at school were just making it up as one more way of teasing her.
From the kitchen she smelled ham roasting, pies baking, and vegetables she didn’t even know the names of stewing on the stove. Her foster mother, Mrs. Williams, had sent her out because she was underfoot and kept getting in the way of the dinner preparations. At this house, Mrs. Williams said, they had Christmas Eve dinner so that Christmas day would be a day of rest and fun. She was expecting family and friends to arrive any time and didn’t have time to fool with such a nosy little mess as the newest foster kid. She'd only been there for 2 days and didn’t want to risk making her new “mother” angry, so the little girl had gone into the living room and tried, as she always did in new foster homes, to make herself very small and unnoticed. It was safer that way.
This was her third foster home in as many months. Because she didn’t know how to be with people, she made enemies much faster than friends, so the case worker kept moving her around trying to find a foster family that could help her “come out of her shell,” whatever that meant. All she knew was that if you let people get too close, they could hurt both your feelings and your body. She wasn’t letting anybody hurt her ever again. But there was something special in the air. She could just feel it and wanted to be a part of whatever it was.
The other kids in the family were all gathered around the tree talking about what Santa Claus was going to bring them. The little girl was pretty sure there was no such person because she’d never gotten any Christmas presents. When she said as much she had to laugh at the look of shock on their faces. “You mean Santa has never brought you anything you put in your letter?” Tammy, one of the older girls, asked. But the little girl was confused. She’d never written a letter to Santa. She didn’t know she was supposed to. Tammy very kindly took the little girl by the hand and explained that all she had to do was write the letter and Santa would bring her what she asked for. Tammy led her to where the paper and pencils were kept and helped her write her very first letter to Santa. Then Tammy took it and put it in the mailbox so Santa’s elves could pick it up later. That night, for the first time in her life, the little girl couldn’t sleep out of excitement instead of the fear she’d always known in the dark.
Christmas morning dawned bright and beautiful. All the kids were talking and scurrying around getting dressed. They were not allowed out of their rooms in the morning until they were fully dressed and the rooms were put in order. Christmas morning was no exception. The little girl hurriedly tidied up her bed and put away her pajamas and then ran downstairs almost tripping over the slower kids in her way. When she rounded the corner into the living room she stopped dead in her tracks. THERE WERE PRESENTS EVERYWHERE! Bicycles, truck, dolls, and so many other toys she couldn’t count them were stacked all around the Christmas tree. The bicycle leaning against the wall next to her had a big red tag on it that read, “From Santa.” The little girl couldn’t believe her eyes! Santa had come. He was real!!
Mrs. Williams walked into the room and clapped three times to get everyone’s attention. The children were instructed to take a seat and then she would pass out the presents. No one was to open any wrapped gifts or play with anything from Santa until they were all passed out. There was a collective sigh from seven disappointed little faces that could be heard all the way to the front yard, but not a one was willing to argue and risk being sent back upstairs. The little girl joined the others on the floor, but sat near the back so she could watch everyone without being watched herself.
In what seemed to the children like deliberate slow motion, Mrs. Williams began picking up presents and calling out names and then smiling as the recipients squealed with delight over each new treasure. With each name read, the little girl got more and more excited. The next one just had to be hers. So she waited and watched and clapped for glee as each child received just what he or she had asked for. But her name was never called.
As the last present was handed out Mrs. Williams exclaimed, “That’s all! MERRY CHRISTMAS and remember to play nice!” Nobody noticed the little girl sitting quietly in the back crying silent tears that rolled down her cheeks and dripped off her nose. Nobody noticed when she silently turned and crept back up the stairs to hide in her room. Nobody came for her when it was time for breakfast or lunch. Nobody remembered that she sat alone and lonely, forgotten by everyone. Even Santa Claus.
A few days later the case worker came and apologized for forgetting to bring her a Christmas gift. She brought a baby doll that cried, “maaamaaa” when the little girl squeezed its belly and closed its eyes when she laid it down. But it wasn’t what the little girl had asked Santa for in her letter. She didn’t know it then, but the new home she’d asked for would not come for 3 more years. But that’s a story for another time.
For now, just remember, as you go about your shopping and planning, singing and playing, that somewhere out there is another little girl who will go without a Christmas present to open on Christmas morning. Somewhere there is a child suffering and hungry and in need of just one touch of kindness to know that they are not alone and forgotten. You can help by donating presents or money to your local children’s protective agency, children’s charity, or any one of dozens of organizations that reach out to help children not just at Christmas, but all year long. If you want to help on a more personal level, “adopt” a child to play Santa for. The gift you give may be the one that opens the child’s eyes to the true meaning of this most precious of celebrations.
