On Easter Sunday, I was taking CoCo for a walk ... and as it was a beautiful day out!, and as it was a holiday, I decided we were going to go a slightly different route than we usually do ... and so, basically, we were across the street and just around the bend in the road, in front of the two-story brick house, when this happened - when our Easter visitor arrived ....
CoCo was sniffing the lawn along the side of their house, and I was looking directly at her - so that's how I couldn't miss how this happened: A dog came flying through the second floor window!!!! I was just standing there, rooted to the lawn, incredulous - and very frightened, that this poor animal was going to be maimed! - and there were none of the usual vehicles parked in front of the detached garage they never use (sure -it was a holiday)! Instead, this absolutely gorgeous Sheltie puppy landed ably on all four paws and just strolled over like - "hi! thought I'd drop in!!!"
The doggy was friendly - AND following us - AND didn't have a clue about cars, so I crossed her... as I wanted someone to help me out here, I considered myself very fortunate to find some neighbors in the apt building where I live, home and outside, and I told them my incredible story of the doggy who flew through the window! As they petted her, and tried to grab a hold of her, at one point using a chicken-flavored treat, they filled me in that the female homeowner works a considerable distance away - AND her son just killed himself four months ago ;- so no one exactly wanted to be paging her at work! I realized that the age of the dog was about the time of her son's demise, which was actually significant, but I didn't even realize at that point ...
Not knowing what else to do, having done things like this in the past, I simply walked me and CoCo down to our door and - yep, the Sheltie came right in, like she lived here! Because she was friendly, I checked her collar : she had a rabies tag, but not a name tag ...so I started calling her 'Jeni' and she immediately responded to the name! "Maybe I got lucky? Maybe it sounds like something close to her actual name?" Anyway ... me, CoCo, and Jeni had a pleasant afternoon : as I actually had Myndie's old leash in here, we went on walks ; at some points, I was sitting here on the computer with TWO sleeping dogs, which was sweet ....
What was odd about Jeni, tho, was that she had no idea what a treat was and didn't want any part of it, and -very disturbing for a puppy! - she had no idea how to play -which made me think of benign neglect: she was vetted and groomed, sure, but apparently not really a part of the family with the Colonial lamppost on the lawn ....
As the afternoon wore on, a problem developed ...CoCo is 15, and she tires easily, and just likes to go behind furniture and nap ... Jeni didn't get that. CoCo snapped. Uh-oh. No longer having a big house or a yard, I figured it was time to figure out something else for our visitor ...
I re-leashed Jeni and we walked back to the house ... hmmm. The yard wasn't fenced. Yes, there was a small, all-screened, side porch - which seemed to hold household clutter, without any floor space. In addition, the access was only from the back yard - and I didn't want to go traipsing through someone's backyard, anyway. Not knowing what to do, I decided to walk Jeni over to the immediate neighbor ...
The young woman who answered the door didn't actually live there -she was visiting her mom for the holiday -but she knew the daughter who lived in the brick house w/ white shutters next door and she had her on her cell phone! - which I took to be a real God-sign!!! She called her up, repeating my "through the window" story with a look at me like I was crazy - and she was suprised to learn that apparently this doggy does this often! - that the family comes home and finds her lounging on the lawn ;- The daughter told her where the outside key was, and how to fix the screened window. And one more thing --
"Wait!" cried the woman neighbor. "What's her name?"
They never gave the dog a name.
My heart just broke. Sure, I understood it on an intellectual basis ... but on a heart basis?
My heart tore off a little piece for our Easter visitor from around the bend ... a beautiful and intelligent young dog who was apparently adopted to stem the tide of a deep family tragedy, but never really made 'part of' the house w/ the wooden chair on the front stoop ...
...an Easter visitor who has my heart, and now, has my eyes on, as well.
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