If You Love Someone

You know the rest….Set them free, etc. Well, with all due respect to Richard Bach, I’ll bet he was never involved in rescue or fostering, was he?

Do you remember Bear talking about the difficulty of fostering ? More often than not we take in dogs that have some serious issues and we show them the way and then we “set them free”. We give them away so that, in fact, they can continue to grow. That happened with me, you know. My beloved foster mom and dad made the painful decision to give me to my forever mom and dad. They knew that I would flourish by having more attention than they could give me. Little did they know how well I would flourish. Bet they had no idea I would rise to the level of Princess…*woohooo* (ooh, I’ve picked up on my brother’s propensity to digress….oops).

Back to the pain of “letting go”. No, our fosters aren’t coming back. They may or may not have “meant to be” ours, but they don’t come back. Mostly we rejoice: whether it’s a “woohoo” that the foster is gone (if he pulls on my furs one more time…..), or in some cases like Gracie/Company, that our foster has found the perfect home (I wish I had an 8 year old girl of my very own). But sometimes, there are tears. Tears of happiness that our friend has found not only a new home but a new meaning to life, and tears of sadness for losing someone we’ve come to love.

Do you also remember reading Bear’s Last Will? Where he discusses courage and strength? Courage to love and Strength to let go. Well, his gifts were tested recently in two very different ways. About a month ago we brought in a foster who was an owner relinquish. He was not hurt. He was not abused. It was clear he was loved very much. But the owner chose to let him go because their family did not have the ability anymore to provide him the life an Aussie needs. He wasn’t neglected or underfed or mistreated. No, rather they realized their current life didn’t allow for him to have a life. Between work and school and other circumstances, their beloved Aussie was not being allowed to live to his potential. He was loved so much that they made the excruciating decision to let him go. Talk about courage. And strength. And tears. Thankfully, they chose rescue so that we could find the right home for him. And flourishing? Yup, he is. If you love someone, set them free…..

On Friday Momma set Andy free. Andy was the male version of Gracie. Gorgeous. Fearful. Hungry. Sick. Andy was a day away from euthanasia when he was pulled from the county pound. He’d been yelled at for going to the bathroom. He’d been abused. He was covered in tick bites. We think he was dumped because car rides scared him, and made him sick. And he was frightened of men. Well… all but one.

Andy fell in love. With his new forever Dad. We took Andy over to meet his potential forever home. Actually, it was that imp Chaudy that was “under review”. Chaudy did what he was supposed to do. Play with the girl dog there. But Andy…well he cozied right up to the man of the house and never left his side. Hmmmm. What did Andy know that we didn’t? He went back the next day. Again, nuzzled up to the man and was tolerant of, but not thrilled with, the potential sister. And we all thought Andy didn’t like men…..

Andy came back home with us which was fine, because he’s a cool dude and we all liked him. Then something remarkable happened. In the three weeks since Andy visited this man, he changed. He became less shy. He was no longer scared of the car. He started to initiate play. He became more confident. He welcomed visitors—women AND men. He accepted discipline, but really, he no longer needed it (sure wish Chaudy got that drill). Dad fell hard (let's give 'em Chauderhead and keep Andy), I fell harder (he did make a nice footman). Mom fell hardest (can you spell Velcro?). Even Ditto sorta liked him. Chaudy? Well Chaudy likes everyone.

So Friday Andy went for a slumber party. He played with his new sister. He charmed his way to his new mom and extended family. And he never left the side of his new dad if he could avoid it. Andy has a person of his own now. Someone he can watch over. Someone he can call his own. Andy won’t be back. Tears? Yes. Of both happiness and sadness. Destiny? I don’t know. Kinda seems like it, but you decide.

Courage to love. Strength to let go. Always knowing they won’t “come back”.

Thanks for reading everyone. And I grant happiness to reign upon you today.