I have been thinking about New Year’s Eve for many days. My husband, Bob, and I joined his parents at a lovely gathering with friends in North Carolina. Laughter, great food, and dominoes were all part of the agenda of the celebration of the new year’s birth. However, what really punctuated the evening was an emaciated, tired, hunting dog who came upon their property. Seemingly “out of the blue” this dog lumbered onto the property with sad eyes and even sadder physique. He was in need of much attention. Who knew how long he had been lost? By the looks of this kind and gentle dog time and the elements had worn him down to a pitiful sight.

Now I must confess that I do not feel confident enough about my dominoes game playing so that might have had something to do with the fact that I had to retreat to the front porch where the dog was residing. I noticed he was shaking and so I asked for a towel or blanket to cover him. This needy dog needed someone who cared to sit with him and watch him sleep. Intermittently, I rejoined the party and many people asked about how the dog was doing. The owner of the house called the numbers on the dog’s collar to let the owners know that their dog had wandered off and the people at those numbers did not seem to have the appropriate response. We wondered if they had been drinking too much that evening as they had slurred words. The police, an animal control organization was called, etc. What I noticed throughout the evening was that the empathy for the dog was growing—-people expressing disbelief that the owner did not want to immediately retrieve their dog, the police did not want to take the dog and so on. The attendees at the party were conversing about how they felt about this poor unfortunate dog. What I was so taken with was that the gentleman who owned the house, my parents-in-laws dear friend, continued his quest to find a safe place for the dog. He could have easily turned away from that responsibility. He truly cared about that dog—his empathy “shining through.” Also my father-in-law checked in with the dog and me as we were sitting on the porch.

Someone mentioned about this “gift” of the dog that evening. Yes, I feel that the dog was gift. It was a check-in for all of us to live our values. When we see a child, adult, animal, etc., who is in need it is all part of our collective culture of values that we care for each other. Just so you know the outcome of this story… on the road back to Houston we got a call from my father-in-law saying that the owners came the next morning to pick up their dog. I hope when they look in those sad and gentle eyes of their dog they soon realize that their dog is and was truly a gift for the new year.