(From my “too good to delete” file)
Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’ He was a real
character.
Whenever company would come for the weekend, Mary and Jim would
warn them to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would
help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would
forget and something would come up missing.
Then Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky’s other favorite toys. Lucky
always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that
his toys stay in the box.
Then one day Mary found out she had breast cancer. With the diagnosis came the fear that it was going to be fatal.
She scheduled the double mastectomy. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her… what would happen to Lucky? Although the dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through.
If I die, Lucky will feel abandoned, Mary thought. He won’t understand
that I didn’t want to leave him! The thought made her sadder than
thinking of her own death.
The surgery was harder on Mary than anticipated and she was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his walks faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.
Finally Mary was released. When she arrived home, she was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap.
Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she called.
This made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.
When Mary woke, she couldn’t move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. For a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong. But panic
soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was
covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned!
While she had slept, the dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things.
He had covered her with his love.
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again,
walking further and further together every day. It’s been more than 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
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Remember… live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing
from God. And never forget: the people who make a difference in our
lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or
the most awards. They are the ones that care for us.
If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live
simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest
to God.