One Opportunity I Almost Lost – Love for an Angel

October 5, 2007

Ten years ago, one of my friends and I had been talking about the fact how much both of our children loved dogs. I remarked, “My daughter really wants another dog as a pet.” Our first dog died when my daughter was only five years of age. And, since our home had been without a pet for over six years it seemed like our hearts were ready to love another dog.

My friend told me about a fellow she often spoke with at work who wanted to give three puppies to a good home. If I was interested in adopting one of the puppies, all I needed to do was call him and mention she had given me his name.

I called Bill and inquired about a good time to visit the puppies. He enthusiastically agreed to a lunch meeting with the three puppies. They were only four weeks old and I immediately fell in love with the runt of the litter. She quietly and quickly climbed out of the dog bed, leaving her two sisters behind. Tiny and tender, I cuddled her in my hands. “This is the one I want,” I told him. He said since I was the first to visit the puppies, I could have the pick of the litter. “She can go home with you in two weeks,” he remarked.

We purchased for Angel a pet taxi, harness, leash, custom sized dog food bowl, and water dish. Eagerly anticipating the day we could bring her home, we were thrilled. Always ready with a camera for those special photo moments, I snapped a few photos of our new miniature rat terrier with my daughter and one of me holding her tiny life in my lap.

“Let’s call her Angel,” my husband said. My daughter and I quickly agreed because she was so delicate and dainty. The name stuck so we officially adopted Angel on Wednesday, March 6, 1996.

My daughter asked if I could bring Angel to school for a special event in her 4th grade class, which permitted pets. Making the necessary arrangements, I arrived in my daughter’s classroom and told the kids about Angel and her arrival in our home. They loved her too. Unique in size, color, and temperament, she quietly watched the kids.

About two months later, I decided it would be a good idea to write Bill a thank you note expressing our appreciation to him for this wonderful gift of new life in our home. I included photos I had taken of Angel and mailed the note. Although I never received a response from Bill, I knew it was what I needed to do.

Reading the newspaper only four months later, my eyes glanced at a name that was similar to Angel’s first human dad. “That’s odd,” I remember thinking. The name I read in the obituaries was too familiar. Continuing to read the column, I gasped as I read the name of his employer. My thoughts raced, “This can’t be true.” He was just a few years older than me.

When I returned to work, I called the office where Bill had worked to express my condolences because of the incredible gift he had given to my family. The receptionist answering the phone listened to my story. As I told her the details of how we had received Angel, her voice began to break. “You’re the one…” she said. “We never knew your name,” she continued.

I remembered walking to Bill’s office for the lunch visit with Angel but that was the only time I had ever visited his office. “We always wondered who you were. The pictures you sent to him holding the puppy touched his heart. You see, he posted those photos on one of the walls in his office but we did not know your name.” Her voice paused as she said, “We always wondered…”

Who would have ever thought a thank you note and a few photographs would have meant so much to this man who died only six months after I first met him? A simple thank you note to him for the puppy he had given my family had touched several lives and taught all of us an important lesson.

If you are waiting on the perfect moment to take action, remember the lesson I learned. You may have only one opportunity.

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