I said I would speak at church when needed… as long as I could pick my own topic. Mostly because I’ve always wanted an opportunity to share a story with you that taught me so many lessons, sometimes I feel like I still have “aha” moments where I realize I still have more to learn, even though it happened over 14 years ago.
Lessons I learned From Walnut
As I tell you this story, I want to see if
you can find the following lessons:
·
Be Prepared
·
Follow the council of priesthood
holders
·
Are you really prepared?
·
Prayer works
·
Don’t pass judgment
·
Goodbye is not forever
Be Prepared
Back when we lived in Arcadia, our family
rented an old Spanish style house on a large fenced in lot on the corner of
Huntington Drive and Golden West. Some of you know it as the house that the MTA
bus crashed into, which is totally irrelevant, but an interesting fact that drew
my husband to the house. This was our first house and even though our last
apartment was quite large and we were allowed to own a cat, it was just a cat.
My girls and I wanted a dog. Dogs are way cooler.
Having had plenty of lectures from my husband
about being a responsible pet owner, I did my homework. I went on line and
researched animal breeds that would be good with young children. Amanda was
about 4 ½ and the older girls were 11 at the time. The girls and I poured over
animal shelter sites and searched for the perfect dog to rescue. We spent at
least a couple hours doing our research. I even went down the Pasadena Humane
Society to check out the dogs ahead of time, just to make sure my heart was
really in it. They explained that part
of the adoption process was to have the pet meet each of the family members.
Which in my mind meant I wasn’t going to be able to just sneak whatever dog we
wanted home and say “surprise!” so Rich couldn’t say no.
Follow the Council of Priesthood Holders
That afternoon, Rich came home early and we
met him with excitement and begged him to go with us to get a dog. Only one
problem… Rich didn’t think we were ready for a dog. So on came the lecture “As
a priesthood holder (yes, he actually pulled the priesthood card), I feel
compelled to tell you that we are not ready to adopt a dog. The side fence is broken and could fall over
any time; we need to buy food and a dog bed. Someone needs to walk and clean up
after it. I explained that we HAD
prepared by researching breeds and humane societies.
He had us have a family prayer together,
where again he used words like guidance, being prepared, responsibility, etc.
At the end of it we opened our eyes and said… “Can we go get a dog now!” He just shook his head because he knew we
only heard what we wanted to hear, which in our minds was “we are getting a
dog!”
Somehow we got him to go with us to the
Humane Society to “Just take a look”. I grew up with a boxer and that’s what I
wanted. A dog with short hair because I somehow remembered they would shed less
(WRONG). We had the attendants bring
back a couple dogs for us to meet that met my criteria, but in actuality were
crazy hyper and all over the place. Then she brought back a dog she thought our
girls would like. A big 105lb Anatolian Sheppard named Walnut who was covered
in thick, long hair.
Rich sat in a corner completely irritated and
uninterested. The dog went and lay behind him, trying to hide farther back. Then
the attendant told us his story. Walnut was given to a little girl named Haley
for Christmas. She and her mom loved him for 3 years, until her mom passed away
from cancer and Haley had to move in with her dad and her step mom. They told
us how awful it was the day Haley had to say good bye to her dog and how cruel
that step mom must be to not let her keep him. Now Walnut had not only lost the
only two people in his world, but had been taken to a shelter where they were
running out of time on how long they could keep him. He was acting very
depressed and never showed any interest in people that came to check him out,
until our girls came up to his cage. She said that they probably reminded him
of Haley. That is when I noticed that Rich’s hand had left his lap and was
calmly petting the sweet, scared dog behind him. That’s when he looked at me
and said, “We are taking this dog”.
Our happy family left the humane society plus
one dog that night and took him directly to the groomer for a bath. That’s
where we learned that he was a complete chicken and had to be carried, all 105
lbs of him, into the groomers or doctors office.
Are You Really Prepared?
When we got him home, Rich took off Walnut’s
collar to make it a little larger. We decided that while he did this, we would
take our new dog outside so he could get to know his new yard. That’s when he
walked over to the side of the yard, pushed on the fence that was broken, which
fell over and scared him so bad he took off running – right down Huntington
Drive during 5:30 pm traffic. I chased after him as the girls went to get their
dad. The last I saw of him, he was about
2 blocks ahead of me and disappeared into some bushes. We checked those bushes
over and over again, to no avail. That’s when we broke up into two cars and
started our 2-hour search. Lauren and I
searched while Amanda was in the backseat making commentaries like “Well… we
HAD a dog.” And “Dad said we weren’t ready for a dog, I guess this is what he
meant.”
Prayer Works
Finally, in desperation I pulled over in
front of the bushes where I had last seen him. It was getting really dark and
our chances of finding him were growing slim. So I did the only thing I knew
how to do. I said, “Let’s pray”. That’s when I said “Look Lord, I know we suck
as dog owners, and maybe we weren’t as prepared as I thought we were, but if
you help us find this sweet lost dog, I promise you we will be good to him and
treat him like part of our family.” I opened my eyes and found Lauren just
staring at me… “That’s the prayer that’s going to get our dog back?” she
questioned me. “just go look in the
bushes again”, I told her. She walked
over to the building and just as she was walking up to the bushes, the garden
lights came on and were shining brightly on a terrified dog. Lauren excitedly
came running back to the car, exclaiming, “Your prayer worked! He’s in the
bushes!” And I yelled back… “and you just left him there! Go get him!” We took
him home and the next day Rich fixed the fence.
Don’t Pass Judgment
Two weeks later the girls and I were proudly
walking our new dog. When we got to the park, a car pulled up beside us with a
little girl and what looked like her mother. The little girl rolled her window
down and said, “Did you adopt that dog? Is his name Walnut?” I looked at her
and said “We did. Are you Haley?” She told us about how she used to put dresses
and high heels on him and how much she loved him, but when her mom died and she
moved in with her dad, the apartment was too small for him and there wasn’t a
yard for him to play in so he just seemed so unhappy. Her step mom said it was
the hardest thing they had to do, but they knew giving him up would be best for
him.
Immediately, I felt this bitterness in my
heart that I held towards a woman I had never met, dissolve and a gentle
reminder from the Lord that it wasn’t my role to judge in the first place. We are to love unconditionally, just like a dog who gratefully wags his tail with forgiveness, joy, and enthusiasm... even after being left home alone all day. We
swapped information with them and told them they could see him anytime.
Years later, in 2006, we took Walnut to the
vet because he was having problems with his hip. When they did an xray to see
if he was healthy enough for surgery, they found a large mass in his
lungs. We made a decision to take him
home and love him until he showed us he was ready to go. When that day came, we
called a vet out to our house. Walnut was in a lot of pain and just keep crying
and throwing his head on the ground so the vet gave him something to calm him
so the girls and our dog Spike could come out and say good bye. As he lay on
his favorite rug, next to the door way between our living and dining room, we
said a family prayer and told him what an amazing member of the family he had
been. How he taught us how to love unconditionally and brought so much joy into
our lives. Then we released him from this world and his pain. It was the most
heartbreaking, yet beautiful experience in my life.
Six years later, our family came together in
prayer in the exact same spot where we said good bye to Walnut, to say goodbye
and release our daughter Amanda from this mortal world. She also gave so much,
but left much too soon. Though our
hearts ached to say good bye, there was also a sweet realization that goodbye
is not final. Walnut left early so he could be there to welcome Amanda home
again. They ARE together again.
I testify to you that if we prepare ourselves
appropriately, not just by reading scriptures occasionally, but by living a
life that proves we are prepared for the Savior to come again, and if we not
just seek, but follow the council of our priesthood holders, turning to The
Lord in earnest prayer that is free from judgment and pride, that our goodbyes
will not be forever.
