What I am thankful for!

Those of you that have been following my blogging over the past few weeks know that I am part of the Random Writers, where we each address the weekly topic in our blogs.  This week is a bit different.  Each of the Random Writers are very excited to be taking part in a blog about what we are thankful for, in honor of epicthanks.org.  Please take a moment to check out epicthanks.org  and if you are able, please donate a few dollars to their cause.

Two years ago, my life was cruising along great.  I had lots of great things happening which included buying a new house.  One afternoon, my wife at the time decided that we really, really, really needed a dog.  I wasn’t very excited about the prospect of having another animal in the house, but I went along with it, and a week later we rescued a one year old Catahoula Leopard Hound off of the list that Craig built.

One week after the dog came to our house, we had settled on Dr. Seuss as the name for our new house mate.  Seuss had all the typical signs of neglect and abuse including wounds, mites, fleas, and he was pretty malnourished.  He was very shy and timid, but he was very snuggly and affectionate, most likely because he had never been cared for and was abused.  It did not take long for Seuss to warm up to me and it was soon clear that he was my dog.  Three months after he came into the house, I would realize how important he truly was.

My wife and I agreed to get a divorce.

I grew up in a house with both of my parents and two sisters, so I had never really been alone before.  But now here I was, merely months after buying a great 3 bedroom house to start our family in, and I found myself in a totally unfamiliar place, alone.  Completely alone.

For several weeks, as I laid down at night, I held tight to Seuss, with tears dripping from my cheeks, to fall onto his soft coat.  At times his neck would be wet with my tears, so I would look up and apologize to him, but the look on his face made it clear that he didn’t mind at all, and he would gently lick the tears from my face.

As I slowly adjusted to my new life, I began to realize something.  The relationship that Seuss and I had was a bit different than most pet owners have.  I did not just save him, but he saved me, and I know that we were put together just for that reason, to save each other.

In honor of the EpicThanks event this week, I would like to thank you, Dr. Seuss.  Thank you for being this mans best friend!