Evoking a Memory

     I've realized while writing my blogs that they evoke memories of things long forgotten. One question I pondered as my mind was filled with memories: Where did my love of dogs and my connection with them come from?
     The answer came quite quickly: My love of dogs began when I was very young and I'm sure my mother planted the seeds for this love.
     My mom and dad's first dog was Blacky. I was a baby at the time, so I don't personally remember Blacky, but, at my insistence, my mom retold the story of finding him countless times to me.
     Blacky ended up in our household literally by accident. My mom heard a yelp, ran up the street, and found a black dog lying alone and hurt in the street. Without hesitation she gently placed the dog in her arms and rushed home with him. She cleaned that stray's wounds and nursed him back to health as if the dog had always been hers. I remember mom telling me, "Treat a dog with love, kindness, and respect and you will forever have a loyal friend."
     I don't recall what eventually happened to Blacky, but I do know that he was deeply loved while he was in our household.
     The first dog that I have a real memory of was our dog, Sandy. Sandy was an abandoned dog that showed up on our doorstep one day. My mom, never one to turn a dog away, welcomed him into our home.
     Back that many years ago our city was still 'country', so there were no leash laws. Sandy's favorite pastime  was chasing cars. He would lie in the grass at the side of the road and wait for a car to come down the road; out he would jump, barking and running alongside the car. As much as mom would try, she couldn't break him of this.
     Eventually he too, was hit. Mom now had to tend to another wounded dog. In time he healed, and he seemed to be a changed dog; deciding entirely on his own that his car chasing days were a thing of the past.
     Even at my young age I was aware of the love between mom and Sandy. I'm sure mom had no idea what a valuable lesson in the love between a human and dog her daughter was absorbing.
     Mom, I am forever grateful for planting the seeds in me for my lifelong love of dogs. The many dogs that have been in my life over the years are thankful, too.

     So long, I'll see you soon!