(This is a story I wrote years ago after an encounter with a stray dog. I reread it and it made me smile.)

I woke up one Sunday with a splitting headache and a bad attitude. No job and struggling with finances, I felt the heaviness of life making my headache ten times worse. Add to that the fact that I was mad at my brother over a dog.

My brother Mike’s dog had had a litter of puppies a few weeks before and I had fallen in love with the runt of the litter. I would go home to my mom’s house where the puppies were, and I’d spend the day feeding and loving on that little runt puppy I had named Rosie. I’d sit outside in the sun with her asleep on my lap.

My brother, sister, and mother all said that it would be impossible for me to have a dog due to my current financial situation and small living space. But I knew they were wrong, I loved this puppy! I knew it would make me feel so good and happy to have a dog. I definitely knew I was totally right, and they were plotting against me. Was I being selfish? After all, I was the miserable, depressed one…I knew what was best for me. How dare they tell me what I could and couldn’t do! My brother made it clear I wasn’t going to get a puppy. That little 30-something year old cuss – he was always against me with his “I- know- best- attitude”. I was pissed at everybody.

Well, the Saturday before I was going back to my mom’s place, I went and bought a can of dogfood for Rosie. I also grabbed a small bag of catfood to keep the cats at my mom’s house busy so they’d leave Rosie and me alone.

So I was prepared – a can of food for Rosie, some nibbles for the cats…. a whole day of loving on my little Rosie.

OK, so I woke up with another headache and feeling a bit bad. I took some medicine and called my Mom to tell her I would be running late. Eventually, I got on the road and started the 40-mile trip.

I remember listening to the radio and thinking about a story on which I was working. I happened to look to my right and saw a little rat terrier rooting through some garbage on the side of the highway. My first thought was why did animals have to suffer from idiot owners. I just continued to drive when I heard a voice in my head.

“What makes you think you’re better than the owner that tossed that dog on the side of the highway? You see suffering and you drive on? Can you live with that thought?”

Well, I don’t know what possessed me but I turned the truck around and headed back toward the dog. I parked off to the side of the road and got out. In my mind, I thought what are these people driving by thinking about me, but it quickly left my mind when I stood looking at the emancipated, dirty little dog.

She ran into the woods looking back at me with a cringing fear. I walked briskly toward her, clucking my tongue and whistling softly. She stood there shaking and I moved my hand toward her. You moron, I thought to myself, never put your hand out to a strange dog. I pulled back just as she nipped at me.

I figured that she was just hungry so I ran back to the truck and just grabbed a handful from the bag of catfood. I carried it back and threw it on the ground in front of her. She devoured it as well as any dried leaves and such near it. I headed to the truck and grabbed the can of dogfood I had, opened it, and blew on the can in her direction. She looked toward me and ran toward me. Then she stopped. I clucked and whistled and spoke as if I was in church. She moved toward me and I poured out the contents of the can. She devoured the food with gusto. I looked over her bug-ridden, emaciated body. I wanted to touch her but didn’t want to scare her. She ate the contents of the can and looked at me, then she started to look for the can that I had tossed aside. I grabbed the bag of catfood from the truck and poured some onto the ground. After I did that I looked up, a state trooper was flashing his lights and was moving onto the shoulder of the road.

“OH, shoot,” I said to myself, “I’m going to get a ticket or going to jail over some darn dog.”

“Is there a problem?” announced the voice over the loudspeaker.

I stood there thinking nothing. So I just walked toward the car. The officer lowered his window.

“I hope I’m not breaking the law, Sir, but I saw this poor dog on the side of the road. She’s starving and all, and I just couldn’t pass her by without checking her out.”

“I was worried you had broken down or something then I saw you feeding the dog.”

“Yes, Sir looks like someone threw her out. Looks like she hasn’t eaten in days. I don’t rightly know what to do with her.”

“If I could I’d take her but my complex doesn’t allow pets. My little boy would love her though.”

“Well, my mom lives in Reform, I guess I’ll do what I can…. that is if I can catch her and not get bit.”

“Well, looks to me like you got a friend,” he said, motioning past me.

There sat the little dog on her best behavior. Sitting there behind me, her ears flexing in excitement.

“I don’t understand how people can just abandon animals like that and let them just starve. People see it and just pass on by; you did a good thing. Who says that that’s not an angel testing us? Testing us to see how kind our spirit is.”

“I agree,” I said, “ and like the saying goes the way you treat animals shows how you treat your fellow man.”

He laughed and said, “I do agree with you.”

‘Well, be careful, I think she’d be good with you. You seem to have charmed her.” He said winking toward the little excited dog behind me.

I finally got her, after many attempts, into the truck. She sat on the seat beside me. She quickly lay down and fell quickly to sleep.

In my mind was the matter of how I was going to explain this little dog. I figured Mom would fuss, as would my sister. I would hear them going on how I couldn’t keep a dog and that it wasn’t going to stay at either of their houses. I figured it would be a very short visit.

I tried to put it out of mind, and decide on a name for her. Rosie? No. For some reason, I heard that song “Copacabana" in my head. You know the first line about Lola being a showgirl kept repeating in my head. OK, I thought, I will call you Lola.

I drove up to my Mom’s, and took a deep breath. Here came my nephew running up to me. He was going on about the dogs there. I heard my sister yell something to him. Oh, great, I thought to myself, she’s in a mood.

I walked to the backyard with Lola at my heels. My sister saw the little dog and smiled. Asked me about her and I told her the story. Then my Mom came outside. She smiled too and asked about the dog. I kept thinking it seemed totally opposite from the reaction I expected.

Lola stayed in the truck asleep the whole visit. I would check on her from time to time, and she would look up at me with happy eyes and go back to sleep. In my head I kept telling myself that having a dog is a piece of cake, no problem at all.

Mom was made dinner for us. I was sitting at the table, when she stopped looked at me and said, ”So God sent you a dog anyway? Well, I’ll get her fixed and she can stay here or whatever.” I don’t know if it did, but I think my jaw dropped. Or maybe it was more like a punch in the stomach. It was said so matter-of-factly, no speech, no sermon. Everything was cool. I had sort of won, I thought.

I made my way back to my apartment that night. Lola stayed in her spot beside me the whole trip. I thought I had better make a detour on the way and pick up some food for her. I stopped at a grocery store and figured I could let Lola stretch her legs for a minute and she’d go to the bathroom before I went inside. She quickly jumped out of the truck and we both walked to a small grassy spot. That was the spot I learned my first lesson.

Lola sniffed around and around. Then suddenly like a little rocket she proceeded to run all over the parking lot. I ran after her and finally grabbed her and decided to try it again. I put her on the grass and she looked at me before running off toward the store entrance.

“Lola! Lola!” I yelled, not realizing I could have been yelling the word “chicken” and got more of a response from her. People turned to watch me chase a little black and white dog down the sidewalk, with me hoping to catch her before she ran inside the store’s now-open sliding doors. I finally grabbed her and walked back to the truck breathing a little hard.

So we finally got back to the apartment. I left her in the truck and went to find a makeshift collar and leash. We then went into the apartment and as soon as she walked in she unceremoniously peed in the living room then ran to the kitchen and pooped. My cat walked into the area, the cat I raised from a kitten. There and then I learned that rat terriers are bred to attack anything cat-sized or smaller. The cat flew out the door and I didn’t see him the rest of the night. Lola walked to the bedroom, jumped on the bed, and passed out for the night. I myself had a moment of truth as I sat back into my chair thinking about the events of the night.

I felt at first like I was the victim of some big cosmic practical joke. Then I had a moment of intense clarity – what we desire and want aren’t always the best things for us. Sometimes we get so hardheaded about things that we can’t see the reality of things. If we only listened to the voice inside us and put away our own selfishness, we could understand that the world doesn’t revolve on what we want.

The next day, my sister helped me find a home for Lola, a home where she is constantly showered with love and affection. I now for sure that sometimes the happiness of others does hang on our own actions. I have also discovered that Lola is actually a very well trained dog, readily obeying most simple commands. It was if her actions the night before weren’t typical of her. As my sister and I prepared for Lola to leave me, I caught my sister humming the first line of “Copacabana”. “Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl.” In my head, I thought, yes, she was.

As my mother says, “Nothing happens by accident.” There is a purpose for everything under the Sun. I am glad I met Lola. She showed me that life extends beyond our own wants and desires. I’m glad God sent Lola to me. He used her to teach me a lot.