Neighbors and pets

It's funny how animals will bring people together. As Raven and I were out walking today, we encountered a large yellow lab, alone, without a leash or owner. I was mainly concerned about getting Raven away from the dog, but it seemed the other dog only wanted to play. Raven growled and barked--I'm sure he was in his protective mode.

As I tried to hurry him home (we were only a couple blocks away), a neighbor came out and distracted the dog. I told her where I thought the dog had come from. Meanwhile, the dog raced away again, this time crossing a busy street where he was almost hit by a car.

I offered to take Raven home and come back with his leash to see if I could walk back to where the dog had first appeared. The lab ran back in our direction and headed back down the road where we'd met him. Sue, the neighbor I had just met, offered to follow him to see if she could find the owner.

As I came back to the spot where Sue and I had parted, leash in hand, another neighbor came out the door. Seeing I had a leash, she wondered if the lab was mine. I explained the situation to her, and then another neighbor, Barb, came up. Kim, the neighbor who first inquired about the leash and lab, had a dog of her own too, and Barb was a guinea pig owner. Then Sue, the owner of two cats, came back. She had found the dog's owner. It seems that when the dog saw Raven, he took off after us, and the little boy who had been playing with him couldn't get him to come back.

We were all happy the dog was safe at home. I walked back a little way with Sue, then she asked me to wait a minute while she went inside to secure her cat door (she had been keeping it closed since her cat brought in two live chipmunks into the house the other day).

I had mentioned that my husband is a drywall taper, and she asked if he might know anyone who did brick work. I told her I'd ask him. She said she needed to get ready for work soon, and I asked her where she worked. Turns out she is a surgical nurse at the hospital and knows our very good friend who is the chaplain there. She went on to talk about her brother, who lived with her for awhile, and how he had talked to another chaplain there because he was hospitalized with terminal cancer. He came to faith three weeks before his death, and as Sue recounted the story, tears welled up in her eyes--tears of gratitude that she would see her brother in heaven again, as well as sorrow for the hole his absence leaves in her heart. He died on Good Friday.

It is amazing for me to think how the search for a runaway dog could bring two neighbors who did not know each other to the point of sharing such deep emotions in a matter of minutes. I'm grateful for the short time spent with them, and especially with Sue. Besides, she has a great lawn and Raven loves to roll around in it. It's nice to now know the lawn owner is a tenderhearted, dear Christian friend.

Till next time,


Suzi