Lucky

Thursday was my toughest day so far.  I'm not sure why but SIX DAYS after my first chemo was the most difficult in terms of nausea, coupled with a very bad headache.  Oh well . . . this too shall pass, I hope.  

Because I'm not feeling quite so chipper, I'm going to post a very beautiful story sent to me by my friend Hal from Conway.  Hal's wife Judy is a three-year breast cancer survivor, and he passed along this lovely story.  

Lucky's story has real meaning to me since I've only recently become a dog owner.  My Abbey Rose was a "gift" from the girls this Christmas.  Their justification - with Anna-Lee going to college in August, they were worried I might get lonely.  At the time, I wondered why "lonely" was such a bad thing.  But now I know there is a reason that Abbey came into my life. "Adorable" is not a big enough word to describe what I feel when I look at her throughout the day.  She stays close by my side, and is completely reliable when I need a hug from a good friend.  Over the past month, I've grown very attached to Abbey, so this story from Hal was especially touching to me.  

Abbey Rose

Enjoy . . . and I hope to get to feeling better very soon.  

------------------------------------

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends 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. 

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.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease......in fact; she was just sure it was fatal.

She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders.  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 three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be 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 double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.

Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary 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.  It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed. 

When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong.  She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. 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 sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.

He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying.  Instead she and Lucky began living again, taking their long walks together every day.  It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. And Lucky . . . he still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box, but Mary remains his greatest treasure.

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.