It's been a long road...

     My wife often calls me when she is coming home from the store so I can help her bring things up. One night she called and said, "come down in a minute I have something for you." I went out to help her bring in the groceries. She said, "This was just sitting at the grocery store, it was so pitiful, I just couldn't leave it there. I knew you could take care of it" Well, of course I figured it was an abandoned kitten. Oh, great!

     She reached into the the back of her car and brought out the saddest orchid I had ever seen. We held it in our hands like it a fragile treasure. It was totally wilted, the leaves were tan/green like some kind of camoflauge color. Half the roots were rotten, the other half were shriveled up and dry. It was floating in dirty water. Pitiful really doesn't do it justice. It was bad... very bad.

     I had read that orchids like dry feet. I poured out all the water and let the poor soul drain and gasp for air for a while in the sink. I put it on the shelf with the other orchids, and left it there. After a couple of weeks of good light and air, life began to come back into the roots and the leaves. It's been a long road, but ... I think she's back. Bless her heart!

     All this reminds me of Jack. He was a rescue too. We only buy the Sunday paper, but one day my wife said she felt lead to get a paper - it was a Tuesday - What in the world? She was scanning the ads and spotted an ad for a rescued standard poodle - cheap. Yeah right. Cheap? What's wrong with it? Three legs? One ear? We talked and talked about it for several days - she couldn't get it off her mind. We were too chicken to call the number - knowing we would feel sorry for whatever we found on the other end of the line. We had a friend call. It seemed legitimate. We drove 40 miles and met in the parking lot of the McDonalds in the town this lady lived near.

    It was just like that orchid - when she opened the door of the car to show us that dog it was the saddest thing you can imagine seeing. He was wet from a bath, shaking and bleeding from a bad fast clipping, all stained with red mud. He was a full grown dog - but he weighed about 50 pounds. pit - i - ful.

     Well, of course we had to have him. He never barked, we thought his vocal cords had been cut. He ate laying down with his head in the bowl - he had been kept in a bathroom his whole short life. He still has a fear of coat hangers, we try not to hang clothes in the closet when he see us. He hates men with beards wearing hats. I think I can piece together what he may have gone through.

     You can see that he is now a full figured 90+ pounds - healthy, and happy. He screams and hollers at every cat, jogger, or tourist that has the nerve to walk past the front door, night or day. It's been a long road, but ... I think he's back. Jack. Bless his heart!