Take in strays

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through experience. Many of them were taught to me by my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe that there are some things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned by living. So, here it is. A year's worth of tiny words of wisdom for all of the nieces out there, or really anyone who will listen. They may not work for everybody and you may not agree with all of them, but each is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

# 34 Take in strays... pets and people

When I was three years old, our neighbors across the street had an old animal cage that they put out for the garbage men. We had some other neighbors who had fifteen dogs. In the middle of the night, I remember the entire neighborhood waking up to horrible sounds of dogs whining and screeching. Those horrible people had put all of their dogs into this tiny cage and left town. My entire household met in the hallway and my mom put on her housecoat and went outside. I watched from the front porch as people walked with beautiful dogs. Some of them were purebred, and some of them were soft and cuddly. I watched as my mom just stood back and let everyone leave.
"Daddy, why doesn't she take one?," I asked.
"She's waiting for the right one," he told me.
I didn't understand and I sat there waiting not so patiently. Finally my mom was the only one left standing in front of that animal cage. She opened it and gently pulled out the ugliest puppy that any of us had ever seen.
My mom waited because she knew that there would be one dog, possibly two, that no one would take home with them. She brought him home and my brother decided that since he was so pathetic, he needed a tough name.
Killer was one of the best dogs that ever walked the earth. He lived to be almost 18. He loved the snow and he LOVED a good good sick day. He loved chocolate covered cherries and would only drink water out of a cup. He was a stray and my mom gave him a chance.
She gave a lot of people a chance too.
When my sister and I were both in the tenth grade, (not at the same time), there was a boy in each of our classes who never brought a lunch, and never had money to buy one. My mom made both of those boys lunch for an entire school year, complete with the same happy face on the sandwich Ziploc, and the encouraging note on the napkin.
In college, it was always understood that if one of my friends or acquaintances couldn't get home for the weekend or a holiday then they would spend it with me and my family. My dad has come home from work many times when there was a stranger sleeping on our couch. He never questioned, he just waved or went about his way.
Sometimes you just have to give people, and animals the time of day. They might not have anyone in the world who is nice to them until you come along.
My parents now have a new dog, Saffron. Saffron is purebred Weimaraner who my cousin found eating out of a dumpster. He knew that as soon as my parent met her, she would have a home. It also didn't hurt that I happened to be home that day.
Take in strays, you never know how much joy they can bring to your life until you give it a shot.
Recommended reading: A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
(A DOG'S LIFE) THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A STRAY BY Martin, Ann M.(Author)Paperback{A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray}