Letters from North
America
By
the time you get to be
my age, you would think
I would know better than
to do the following:
advise someone on
whether on not they
should get married, or
divorced….try to change
someone’s mind about God
or last but not least
buy someone a dog.
Seventeen years ago, my
wife and I bought two
dogs out of a litter of
ten. Then we went back
and bought three more
and gave them to friends
of ours. We lost contact
with two of these
friends so I can’t tell
you how these gifts
turned out. I do know
that the one I gave to
my best friend was his
for these past seventeen
years. He named the
dog…Rusty.
Well, as you can guess,
old Rust bucket died a
week or so ago and now
my friend is in a state
of mourning. In talking
to him about what
happens to dogs (they
die) and how to get over
it, I can sense that he
is a little peeved about
having gotten the dog in
the first place and then
having become so
attached that his life
is in turmoil with the
dog’s death.
So, now it’s my fault.
Well, I’ve got big
shoulders, lay the blame
on me…..I can take it.
No, I’m just kidding …he
really loved that dog.
They traveled all over
God’s green acre and
back, bumping along side
by side. If there ever
was a great match made
up between one man and
one dog, this was it.
But as we all know, the
inevitable hand of fate
has to come into play
and we have to learn to
deal with it as harsh as
it seems. My friend
wrote me a letter and
signed off by saying……
‘He broke my heart and I
don’t know if I can ever
forgive him’. Dealing
with the death of an
animal is tough. I know
I cannot even begin to
think what I would do if
something happened to
either one of mine. On
one hand I am thinking
of buying him a
replacement but on the
other hand I think it’s
best if he decides what
he wants to do. Maybe he
is just too old to have
his heart broken again.
My second dog gift story
is different. Another
friend had a dog that
died back in March….his
wife loved this dog and
has been heart broken
ever since. This was a
special breed of dog and
hard to find. So, I’m
listening to him tell me
about how sad she is. I
look online and find one
of these, only problem
is that it’s nearly 400
miles away from where we
live. I call the breeder
and get a picture sent
to me and tell the
breeder I want it, and
then tell my wife we’re
driving to go get it. We
haven’t had rain in our
part of the country in
months, but you know
what I’m about to tell
you. Yep, started
pouring the minute we
left the house…never
stopped. So, we finally
get to the little town
where the dog is
located, meet the
breeder…get the dog.
This dog weighs two
pounds and is four
months old.
We start home. The
breeder didn’t have a
carrier much bigger than
the two pound dog, so we
stopped at a mall and
bought a larger one with
a leash and a collar.
Then we figured that
since the poor thing had
been cooped up for a
couple of hours we’d let
it out for a walk on the
grass.
Still raining.
What happens next? Dog
slips the collar, runs
under the car, I can’t
bend down because of my
knee surgery, my wife is
in a white pants suit,
trying to get the thing
out so we can get going.
She finally collars the
little beastie and he
chews up her hand
reaching for him. We
throw him into the
carrier, find a drug
store for first aid to
her hand and head home.
Next day, we meet our
friends and hand over
this little present
thinking they will be so
happy. The wife says
that she isn’t ready for
another animal so soon.
So, we’re left with a
dog we don’t want or
need. This is not going
the way I had expected.
I spend the entire
following morning
calling people I know to
see if they want a new
dog. No takers.
I’m almost out of room
here, so I’ll make this
short and sweet. I find
a guy who loves this
breed and agrees to take
a look at the one I’ve
bought. He starts crying
when he sees it and says
he has been looking for
one like this for over
forty years.
He puts him in the front
seat and drives away. We
go home with one less
problem. Total cost of
this little deal, about
$700 and a couple of
days of my life.
As I’ve always said… no
good deed goes
unpunished. But I did
learn another valuable
lesson. One I doubt I’ll
repeat again anytime
soon.
Comments go to
pperry@austin.rr.com
