PUPPY POWER

There is nothing like a puppy to help you reconnect with who you are, Inez. When I got out of the hospital after my four-month incarceration, I decided to get a dog to help me return to health. My reasoning was that I needed to be outside in the fresh air (at that time it WAS fresh) and one way to do that was to walk a dog. I still remember the day I found David, a small black bundle of love totally devoted to me. I had never experienced that kind of devotion nor had I ever felt my responsibilty to a living thing quite so vividly as I did with that little dog. I sincerely believe that walking him every day gave me a new self, one far nicer and more generous than the one who entered that hospital. I had found someone to care about other than myself. I recall walking down the highway with my little man when he was attacked by a violent and angry German Shepherd. At the time I weighed about 60 pounds and I was still not in the best of health but as the dog approached my "baby" I did not hesitate. I scooped him up in my arms to protect him and by some glorious miracle, both of us escaped unharmed. That incident taught me as no other ever has, the true power of love. I did not give one thought to my life or its value, when the dog was in danger. I understood for the first time how enriching it is to love a creature even more than you love and protect yourself.
Enjoy your little puppy Inez! He will give you hours of peace and you will find his devotion a spark that gives you compassion for all living things. My Donald, Dorothy and Amy are my connection to a good and benevolent world ; they keep me in it and force me to remember that I am not the center of my universe. That is a good perspective for us all to have.