PUPPY SIZE Danielle keeps repeating it over and over again. "We've been back to this animal shelter at least five times. It has been weeks now since we started all of this," the mother told the volunteer. "What is it she keeps asking for?", the volunteer asked. "'Puppy size!'" replied the mother. "Well, we have plenty of puppies, if that's what she's looking for." "I know. . . we have seen most of them", the mom said in frustration. Just then Danielle came walking into the office "Well, did you find one?" asked her mom. "No, not this time," Danielle said with sadness in her voice. "Can we come back on the weekend?" The two women looked at each other, shook their heads and laughed. "You never know when we will get more dogs. Unfortunately, there's always a supply," the volunteer said. Danielle took her mother by the hand and headed to the door. "Don 't worry, I'll find one this weekend," she said. Over the next few days both Mom and Dad had long conversations with her. They both felt she was being too particular. "It's this weekend or we're not looking any more," Dad finally said in frustration. "We don't want to hear anything more about 'puppy size', either," Mom added. Sure enough, they were the first ones in the shelter on Saturday morning. By now Danielle knew her way around, so she ran right for the section that housed the smaller dogs. Tired of the routine, mom sat in the small waiting room at the end of the first row of cages. There was an observation window so you could see the animals during times when visitors weren't permitted. Danielle walked slowly from cage to cage, kneeling periodically to take a closer look. One by one the dogs were brought out and she held each one. One by one she said, "Sorry, but you're not the one." It was the last cage on this last day in search of the perfect pup. The volunteer opened the cage door and the child carefully picked up the dog and held it closely. This time she took a little longer. "Mom, that's it! I found the right puppy! He's the one! I know it!" She screamed with joy. "It's the puppy size!" "But it's the same size as all the other puppies you held over the last few weeks," Mom said. "No. . . not size . . . The sighs. When I held him in my arms, he sighed", she said. "Don 't you remember? When I asked you one day what love is, you told me love depends on the sighs of your heart. The more you love, the bigger the sigh!" The two women looked at each other for a moment. Mom didn't know whether to laugh or cry. As she stooped down to hug the child, she did a little of both. "Mom, every time you hold me, I sigh. When you and Daddy come home from work and hug each other, you both sigh. I knew I would find the right puppy if it sighed when I held it in my arms", she said. Then, holding the puppy up close to her face, she said, "Mom, he loves me. I heard the sighs of his heart!"
Close your eyes for a moment and think about the love that makes you sigh. I not only find it in the arms of my loved ones, but in the caress of a sunset, the kiss of the moonlight and the gentle brush of cool air on a hot day. Take the time to stop and listen; you will be surprised at what you hear.
***************************** "The Dog Who Saved a Man's Life" By: Randall Mueller In the crowded town of Seattle there lived a little boy named David who lived with his grandfather and grandmother. His grandfather's name was Nathan and his grandmother's name was Dorothy. David only lived with his grandparents because his mother and father died in a horrible car accident in which they rammed into someone that was drunk head on while going forty miles an hour. David was two years old when they died so he did not get to know his parents very well. When they were in the car crash David was visiting his aunt. David's family was very poor and lived in a house that was built a long time ago. On Wednesday when David got home from school he immediately started working on his homework. "The teachers give us way too much homework," David complained to his grandmother that was sitting on the couch knitting a scarf. "In my day they gave us so much homework that you would have to stay up until midnight working on it. If you did not get it completed you would have to come up with a good excuse or they would sit there for half an hour and scream at you," she told David. "So you should not be complaining." At that moment Grandpa Nathan slowly came into the room and sat on his chair. Nathan was really old mostly blind and was almost deaf. His muscles were as thin as sticks so he couldn't get around too well. "Nathan I have to go to the store do you want to come with me?" "What?" Nathan asked. This time Grandma was almost yelling. "I am going to Safeway do you want to come with me?" "Yes," Nathan said. "You can bring Lucy," said Grandma. Lucy was grandpa's golden retriever. She was his closest friend. "Okay," Grandpa said. "David you can come too I will buy you a candy bar or something." "Okay!" David exclaimed. As everybody got into the crowded car Grandma drove off. After a few minutes Grandma pulled the car into the store parking lot. "Nathan you and Lucy can stay in the car, David and I will go in the store by ourselves." Grandma and David took off. After what seemed like hours someone got back into the car. "Thank goodness you are back Dorothy," Grandpa said. The car took off and there was no response. "What is going on?" Grandpa asked. The car was going fifty miles an hour so they were obviously on a highway. "This is not the way back to our house," Grandpa said. Grandpa heard the car stop then his door open. Then he heard a mean voice say "get out of the car." The next thing Grandpa knew was that he was pushed onto the side of the highway with Lucy. Then he heard his car drive off. "Where is Nathan?" Dorothy asked at the store. "I swore that we parked here. Oh no! Someone must have hot-wired our vehicle with Nathan still in it." Nathan got up off the cold, hard cement but he was nearly blind so he couldn't see a thing. Lucy saw another dog running on the road so she ran off to follow it. "Stupid dog," Nathan muttered to himself as he tried to find out where the way to get home was. Nathan started walking along the edge of the road. He walked right onto a railroad track but he had no idea it was a railroad track. Right when he was still on the railroad track his leg snapped out of its socket. "OWWWWW," he screamed. He collapsed on the railroad track and he thought that he was going to be killed from the train. He heard the train's loud horn and knew that was the end of him. He was surprised to hear a faint barking in the distance. He thought he saw Lucy running full blast towards him. She grabbed onto his shirt and started tugging. A second before the train came by Lucy had managed to get him off of the railroad track. David and Dorothy arrived in a police car and ran over. "Nathan, thank goodness you and Lucy are okay! I was worried sick." The last thing that Nathan had told them is how Lucy had saved his life. Then he lay on the ground unconscious... Nathan woke up and saw that he was in a hospital. "He's awake!" he heard David say. Dorothy came walking up to his bed. "Hi. How are you doing?" Grandma asked Grandpa. "Fine," Grandpa said. " You are free to go," the nurse said. "Your femur was put back into its proper place. It was really easy to fix. It was not completely out of socket." Anxiously everybody left. "You were asleep for four days," Grandma said. Everybody went to the police station. "Hello," Grandma said. "We would like to report something." "Okay what is it?" "A car jacking." Grandma told them the license plate number. They told Grandma that they would search for that car. Once everyone was back at the house everyone held a celebration for Lucy. They had several neighbor dogs come over and keep Lucy some company. The news was spreading like a virus and soon all the neighbors heard about what Lucy did. All of them bought toys and treats for Lucy. By how fast Lucy's tail was wagging everyone could tell that she was having the time of her life. Two weeks later the police department called. The officer said that the stolen car was found and the thieves were sent to jail. Soon after that the family got their car back.
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