There are people that have a profound effect on your life. For me it was a dog, Lucy. 40 years ago this black lab mix dog appeared at my home. She was clearly distressed; she just lay there apparently in physical distress. What to do. I am not one to walk away from an animal in need. I called my neighbor, a man i was dating and he came by. We decided that we would go out for breakfast and if she was still there when we returned, we would do something. Like me, he was also an animal lover, he had 7 cats and I had a dog, Freddie. So when we got back, she was still there. We took her to the animal hospital, by this time she was laying in her own feces. After dropping her off we returned home. Shortly thereafter we got the call, she had a broken spine and while they assured us that surgery could correct this, they added that they knew she was a stray and the surgery would be costly. So sadly I said that I guess she would need to be put to sleep. We felt awful and quickly agreed to pay for the surgery and I would raise her. With bated breath I called the hospital, hoping she was still alive. She was and I said please help her. The surgery went well and soon she was able to come home, I can recall as if it were yesterday the day I picked her up. She came out looking around anxiously, wondering what was next. She finally found a place where she would be safe and loved. Freddie took some time to get used to her. When I tried to walk her, it was a struggle and she was especially fearful of young men. I suspect that some evil man had broken her back with a baseball bat. When she was allowed tojoy run free, she took off in the park running with the joy of a dog in their element.
Lucy lived a long life and always had that wild streak. She and Fred became great buddies. I still cry over the loss. I named her after Al Stewert’s song, Almost Lucy.
A dog is a gift from God, there to love you unconditionally
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