Earlier this week, my Nephew showed up at my house with a beautiful, white Bichon dog that he found wandering on the side of a very busy street. Seeing that she was clearly someones very loved pet, he scooped her up and brought her to me.   We are dog lovers and he knew we would take care of her!

I fell in love instantly.  I’ve never had a Bichon nor have I been around many.  But she was about the sweetest thing I have ever met.  She came right in, made friends with our dog, Bud, licked my hand until I had to stop her, and followed the girls around the house.

And then she came back to me and stood on her hind legs and “danced” her front paws at me.  How do you not love that?

I knew she was very well cared for and clearly the light of someone’s life.  She was well groomed and very used to being taken care of!  As I posted her on Facebook and Craigslist and called my vet to see if I could bring her in for a microchip scan, she sat at my feet as if she were meant to be there!

She curled up with me on the couch while I worked late into the night and slept at my feet—right up next to Bud, and never once seemed agitated or out of sorts.  But I never let myself imagine she would be here permanently.  This was someones family member and I was bound and determined to return her!

The next morning I took my kids to school and came back to check emails and get her to take her to the vet.  I have no less than 20 emails from people who said they would happily take her if I did not find her a home.  I told all of them that we would keep her if it came to that… but I was determined to find her home!

I called my vet and told them I was on my way in.  And then I though to ask them what vet was closest to the crossroads where she was found.  I called them and within minutes, I had the phone number to her owner.  He got here in 20 minutes to pick up his beautiful, majorly missed, 11 year old Bichon, Maggie.  I was so happy to see him so happy to have her back!

He offered me and my Nephew a reward and I told him to donate something to a shelter.  She was my reward!  I loved spending time with her.

Within an hour, I had an email from his daughter, a senior in college with the most heartfelt thank you I have ever read.  I actually teared up when she wrote that she has had her since 5th grade and never thought that “this was the way she would lose her”.  Another hour passed and Maggie’s mother called to thank me.  She offered a gift, a reward, something.  I declined all and told her I was genuinely touched that she would take the time to call.

And so I went back to daily life, glad that I could at least have protected that very loved family member just one night.

Things have not been great for me, personally, lately and I have been a little more than disgruntled with people.  So, I went back to watching the news and wondering where all of the good was in life.  Wondering why people are so wrapped up in their own lives that they can not take two seconds to truly care about what is going on in someone else’s.  Wondering how I was going to raise three little girls with manners when no one else seems to have any.

Sadly, it’s been hard to talk myself out of this mindset.

And then today, almost a week later, while fighting with my husband about who was going to make dinner for the kids since I needed to go to the store and he needed to relax, a car pulled into our driveway.

It was Maggie’s parents.

And with them they had a huge bag full of pumpkin cookies, pastries and coffee cake, along with some fresh bread and a thank you note, lovingly hand written from a grateful mother.

I could not believe it.  All I did was let their precious Maggie spend the night.  

Right then and there I learned a valuable life lesson.

There ARE good people out there.  People that truly appreciate the smallest things.  People that go above and beyond to show appreciation for something that just seemed ordinary and right.

And a few bad acts by others can not overshadow the good that is meant to be seen in this world.

So now I thank them from the bottom of my heart.  For reinstating beliefs I was struggling to remember, for reminding me that doing something just because you should can guide you back to the joy that is in every day, and for teaching my children that saying thank you can be rewarding too.

And for igniting that desire to save another dog that may need a home and not be as lucky as Maggie to have such a wonderful one.

We’ll be rescuing a Bichon!