Graces and Gratitudes

There are times in your life where your plate just overflows.  Sometimes with challenges and sometimes with graces.  Often both.

We live in a hard world.  The trick is to keep a soft heart.  I find the dogs help me do that.  Nature helps me do that and friends help me do that.

Lately I find myself especially blessed by friends.  I sometimes thought when we moved from the city I was leaving all my friends. It felt like it. It took a while to find new friends here in our country world.  I wonder if I was slow in making new friends because I was reluctant to let that old life go.

Here is what I discovered recently. Of course the story starts with a dog. Gunther entered our lives very recently as a foster and we just knew (well one of us did) that he was meant to be a forever dog. In reality it was probably not the best time to add another dog to the ranks, but the heart knows what it knows.  We needed him, he needed us.  When there is a will there is a way.

Shortly after he joined us he developed a mass on his leg.  Much as I wanted to pretend it was just a random lump, I knew it looked like a mast cell tumor.  Been down this road before.  I was relieved he hadn't been adopted to someone who would find him flawed or damaged goods.  To us, tumor or not, he is perfect.  He had surgery to remove the mass, and it came back as suspected.  Looks like we got it early with good margins, so we're doing the happy dance.

The amazing part of the story is about friendship.  Friends rallied to surprise us by chipping in towards his vet bill. They made payments by Paypal, by check and by card. At present, we have a credit balance at the vet clinic. Anyone who knows me and dogs will know what a miracle that is. The balance will remain for Gunther's future medical needs. What they don't know, or maybe they do, is the love that touched my heart by them doing so. People sometimes forget how one act of love can multiply. I won't. Every time I look at Gunther I will see my friends. They go where ever I go. I will see love....and I will be grateful.