Loving Again, Only to Bid Goodbye
We had been shopping at Target, I distinctly remember, when we received the phone call informing us that he won’t be coming back to us that evening; or anymore, actually. My heart sinking a bit, my attention had turned towards my daughter. She was at that age where she was little enough to want to bawl, yet old enough to become self conscious about doing so. Her distress was obvious; brought on by heartache, & the effort to master it from showing. Her eyes became very red; she ferociously brushed aside our attention, fearing embarrassment under public gaze.
And that was how 3 whole months of being with Snoopy, our first ever foster dog, a delightful little white Jack Russel terrier with black ears, came to an end. We simply never saw him again, after dropping him off that morning, at the adoption fair. He finally had a forever home.
All three of us at home dealt with our own pangs of separation and sadness. “Did I give him a cuddle loving enough?”, was one of my thoughts. There was also, that urge to be connected to Snoopy’s new family.
Since then, we’ve gotten home nearly 18 dogs, at different times, within the past 5 years. Each became a big part of our tiny 900 square feet world. Each was cuddled, scolded, & pampered, as children, & pets are!
Each of them had distinct personalities, & despite the commonality of tail wagging, a unique way of expressing its dogged love & loyalty. Yet, those expressions were always unambiguously pure in intent. Sure, some still remain favorites. But, we loved each of them. And we let go of each of them…becoming more & more adept at feeling less & less affected, by the uncertainty of their stay.
I prayed for them to quickly find perfect owners, even though this would mean bidding them goodbye; homes where they would never know neglect, abandonment, or fear.
“How do you bear it?”, we’re often asked, including by some who ended up adopting dogs they had only meant to foster. We smile; we shrug our shoulders…
Fostering does that. Stick with it past your first foster; or second. Stick for just a while, & it will automatically teach you powerful life lessons in the virtue of non attachment; in the art of living a bit more in the moment; & of loving a bit less selfishly. That is one default wisdom which life will eventually force everyone to learn. The earlier started, the better.
From merely an exciting alternative for dog lovers who didn’t feel logistically equipped to adopt, fostering has given us much more than mere company of dogs.
Meanwhile, the little girl who’d furiously hid her red eyes, now sometimes volunteers at those adoption fairs; & even ends up successfully sealing the deals for her own fosters, by giving rave first hand reviews of their worthy perfectness, to potential adopters!
