Lucy and Granny's Amazing Journey

Before we had our kitchen redone, there was a big, old radiator against the outside wall. This is where I placed Lucy's bed - she loves to be warm. One afternoon I went out into the kitchen and Lucy was curled up asleep as usual but as I approached her, she opened her eyes and looked at me and just stared..........She looked so sad. Without warning, I was suddenly hit with a feeling of over-whelming sadness and despair. It was deep and almost painful! I remember thinking, "What the heck is this about?" Lucy continued to stare at me. I sat down on the floor beside her bed and she crawled into my lap and curled up as she pressed her little head against my chest. I held her and said, "What's wrong, Lulu?" Lucy sighed and my feeling of despair became deep, heart-wrenching sobbing. I cried as though I had lost someone loved and treasured....My chest hurt and the tears were soaking Lucy's head. To say I was confused and frightened would have been an understatement. I thought for a second that perhaps I was going insane! And then I heard this little voice....."My babies. What happened to all my babies?" I looked down at Lucy and she looked up at me and she asked again, "Where did they all go?" And in that instant, I realized that Lucy had opened herself up to me and allowed me to feel just what she was feeling! That made me cry even harder and there we sat........Lucy snuggled against me; me shedding all the tears that Lucy couldn't shed for herself. I finally told Lucy that she wasn't going to have any more babies so no one could ever take them away from her again! I apologized to her for the thoughtless behavior of some humans - humans who used her just to get her puppies - and I told her I was sorry that she never had the chance to love them and romp with them and teach them like a mother dog should...........And still we sat and I cried...........And then suddenly, it was all over. I felt something peaceful settling over us and my tears stopped. Lucy looked up at me and her eyes were bright and shining and she licked the tip of my nose. I kissed the top of her head. And that was it. Our journey was complete.
I still get goose bumps when I think back to that afternoon. I'm honored that Lucy chose me to share with. It had to have been as frightening for her to open up as it was for me to receive the message and to take on Lucy's emotions.
If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that without hearing aides, I'm profoundly deaf. But a friend told me once, "God may have taken away your physical hearing but he's showing you other ways to hear." I honestly thank God every day for these hearing aides but I must remember to thank him for deafness as well. It's opened my heart and mind to a whole new way of being and thinking. Oh! And I must remember to thank him for all the animals in my life.....I'm still learning to hear them!

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language.

Martin Buber