Diana and Michael went to a neighborhood Christmas party without
me the other day. A set back in my “always go in the car with you” resolution,
but what can you do, right?
At the party, Diana met a little girl. This beautiful little
girl is so painfully shy she was unable to speak with anyone at the party. When
the neighbors that live right behind us and across the back alley asked how I
was and started chatting about dog stuff, the little girl kept staring at Diana
and looking away when Diana saw her.
The little girl kept getting closer and closer to Diana and
eventually sat as close as she could next to her. She kept looking at Diana and looking
away. Diana kept quietly talking about
how amazing I am, how much I look forward to my evening walk, how we’ve met lots
of neighbors and how “everyone knows Sasha.” (I asked Diana to tell me that part of the
story a couple of times…)
The little girl bundled up all her courage and said, in a
near whisper, to Diana, “I know you. You
are the Dog Lady. I like your dog. She is funny, always barking and sniffing the
trees and wagging her tail.”
Well, needless to say (but I will anyway – that’s how I do
stuff) the little girl’s Mom was surprised and pleased that her child was
actually chatting with Diana. Diana
winked at the Mom and kept telling funny stories about me and asking gentle
questions. Soon, the little girl was
happily chatting away.
Later on, the Mom came up to Diana and said that every night
they watch us walk and explore the neighborhood. The little girl waits for us to pass by their
kitchen window. Once we’ve passed she
goes back to what she is doing.
The Mom said she’s been doing that for nearly a year and has
been talking about maybe one day she will rescue a dog too. As a family, they have been talking about how
much responsibility it is to take care of a dog. You have to do stuff you might
not want to do – like walk them every night, even if you don’t feel well, or
you have other things you want to do, or it’s rainy or snowy.
Diana said if they decide to adopt a rescue dog she would refer
them to the groups that I bark about.
So here I am, doing my daily neighborhood check, barking at
whatever catches my fancy, sniffing my way around the park, you know, minding
my on bees-wax. Little did I know I was making
an impact on someone.
In a week filled with sadness and bittersweet loses of pals on Twitter, I savor the gentle sweetness of this story even more than usual. I’m sure going to
stop at their house and bark a little louder and wag my tail a little
faster just to say, “Hi.”
