All creatures of our God and King...

...I really love that hymn.

I read Cjane. I really love her blog. I love her selfishness, her devotion to husband and family, her enjoyment of life. I love that she is so open about who she is. She gave me this recipe for macaroni and cheese that is absolutely divine. But there was one post, over three years ago, that I recently read as I was browsing the archives. It was about a dog she lost, got caught and left at the pound to be euthanasized alone. Her decision really hurt me, although it has nothing to do with me. I don’t want to blast her decision, but I can’t get that post out of my mind. 

This winter D. and I found a dog. He was running around in the snow on a bitter cold night in January. 

“There is a dog running around outside your house” D. phoned me to say after he left that night to go home.  

Without any hesitation I replied, “Come back and help me catch him”.

He did and we did. The dog was so friendly and beautiful. I thought he was a greyhound at first. He wasn’t – he was skin and bones. He had a cut on his nose. He was shivering and scared. My heart broke to see him. I don’t even like dogs that much. I am so, so, a cat person. 

Since I had a sick (fat) cat in the house, the dog couldn’t come inside. We built him a nest in our garage out of the cold. Wool blankets and cardboard layers did the trick. He curled up gratefully. We procured a can of dog food and fed him. 

That night I named the dog Mr. Love and formed visions of D. and me with a dog in our life together. I fed Mr. Love the next morning before work. D. came over later in the morning with a leash and collar to walk him. 

Sadly, oh so sadly, Mr. Love got away from D. He just wouldn’t come back to him, no matter how much he followed and called to him. Mr. Love ran out of our lives that day forever. 

I firmly believe that animals exist perfectly just as God made them, and that he made them to live. For me, there is a duty owed to a pet to care for it, as best as you can, until the end of its life. And of course I know many people do not feel this way. (I am also a firm believer in the idea “free to be you and me”).

I still find myself thinking about that dog and what could have been. There will be a Mr. Love II in my life someday…