“My goal in life? Be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. “
— Unknown
I was raised in Pittsburgh and we watched “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.” So I’m certain his counsel to “Be a Helper” entered my psyche over time. However, I believe it was my mother’s example that made the greater impression upon me. She was always leaning in to lend a hand to someone without any expectation of the gesture being returned. I am grateful that this was a ‘way of life’ that I learned. It gives my life purpose and meaning.
So, on that Labor Day afternoon, while helping a friend to find her runaway dog — that resulted in me meeting another dog in need — it was a natural reaction to commit to helping him find a better life. I did not know how it would turn out but the words, “I will come back every night to feed you until you trust me enough to come home with me” were spoken immediately.
Whenever I commit to a relationship or responsibility, I never know how it will turn out.
In this case, the commitment to earning Big Boy’s trust took months. Supporting him to learn how to be a household dog in a family took more than a year. This commitment changed his life for the better and mine as well.
Over the years, as I shared the Big Boy rescue story, friends and colleagues encouraged me to write it as a book. As this suggestion came up, frequently they encouraged me, more specifically, to write it as a children’s book.
I have written books for business. I write a blog to share new learnings and observations. Writing is a process for me of making sense of things and sharing the universal lessons I discover. I had not, however, ever written a children’s book.
I loved my books as a child. I have a collection of my favorites. I happily read them to my nieces and now their children. Lessons from those books still influence my life today. I have often quoted ‘The Little Engine That Could’ during this pandemic reminding myself….”I think I can, I think I can, I think I can….”
I thought the lessons that I learned from my commitment to Big Boy were more about who I was reminded to be as an adult.
Because of the encouragement of friends and colleagues, the challenge to tell my experience as a children’s book deepened my understanding of the values that I learned as a child and which guide me today.
We are after all ‘just kids in big bodies’.
Big Boy and my other four-footed friends keep me grounded and remind me of the bliss of the child within.
Happy reading.
Leslie
This is how it starts.
How it ends? Promise kept!
If “Lost, Found and Forever” sounds interesting for you,
we’ve included a link below the excerpt directly to Amazon’s pre-order page.
Thanks.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Recent Comments