| A Mother's Day by Gail D. Leis I'm humbled by the story I'm about to tell. It started with an e-mail sent among rescuers throughout the Midwest who had pulled together to save a litter of puppies. "I know some of you won't recognize the name 'GG'," it began. "It stands for Golden Girl, the name given to the mother of the puppies who've been on such a strange and dangerous odyssey. She's at my house as of last night, and today gave me an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life." Susan, a rescuer who had cared for the pups on their way to Kansas City, was leading GG to her pen when she suddenly shot ahead, pulling Susan in with her. "The light bulb went on inside my head about the time she came flying back out and squeezed past me through the gate," Susan said. "GG, this most wonderful and devoted canine Mom, had recognized the scent of her puppies. Two weeks worth of bleaching and disinfecting couldn't fool her and she was on a mission." Susan cried and watched as GG methodically followed every trail that her babies had made. When she finally realized all of the trails were dead ends, GG ran back to Susan and sat in front of her. "By this time, I was crying so hard I had to wipe my face on my shirt in order to get a good look at her," she said. "She had the most wistful and questioning look on her face I've ever seen. All I could do was kneel down and cry into her fur, assuring her that her babies were going into good, loving homes. "I've had some emotional roller coasters in my life, but the saga of this Mom and pups tops them all so far. I think these babies must be destined to do great things in their lives to have faced so many odds and still survived. Their Mom is equally special and deserves a happy ending. Please pass the word and let's see if we can get her the kind of home she deserves." I knew their story -- we all did -- and Susan was right. Two babies died shortly after birth. Parvo had taken the lives of two others. Three survived deadly Copperhead snake bites days after arriving at yet another rescue, thanks to the rescuer's swift response. Still, few of us knew anything about the mom. I had a developed a friendship with Marilyn Tokach, an animal communicator in Minnesota, during the previous year. I wasn't sure what reaction a suggestion to "talk" to GG might bring, but I took a chance and e-mailed Susan, who eagerly agreed. Over the course of the amazing conversations that followed, three themes emerged. ¥ "See US, not our stories. Look in our eyes, there's somebody in here." Susan had looked into GG's eyes, and in that moment, they connected spirit to spirit. "She didn't see my story. She saw ME," GG told Marilyn. Instantly I thought of an intuitive healer, Sonia Choquette, who had been in town that same weekend with a nearly identical message. "Forget your stories, get over yourself!" Sonia says enthusiastically in her workshop and book Trust Your Vibes. "Look each other in the eye, see who's in there." The same message GG, herself connected to Spirit, was bringing us. ¥ "Animals experience very real feelings." Though spaying is done with the best of intentions, GG was still feeling the physical and emotional pain and emptiness from having her identity as a mother forever changed. She knew her purpose was to only bring forth one litter, but an awareness of purpose doesn't mean our emotions are immune, even as animals. "Dogs' feelings tend to parallel human feelings in the situations they find themselves in," a friend of mine said after reading GG's conversation. "We assume we know best, and treating them as a pet becomes somewhat like treating them like a child. Yet, they're very capable of a rich range of emotions with real feelings that aren't limited to what you think a dog can do. Not as a pet or an animal, but a creature with a breadth and depth of feelings that rival our own. We should respect that. You have to wonder, is the language barrier theirs or ours?" ¥ "We're here to open up people's hearts." I asked if there was a purpose for us coming together, something meant to be told. Marilyn laughed, and said GG was putting it in "dog terms." "It's like this," she told Marilyn. "Take a tennis ball and that symbolizes the earth, and if you hold it in front of a lamp, you see the light of the lamp behind the tennis ball. That light is the animals loving the people of the earth, and helping to bring balance -- it encompasses the whole earth. We're helping to open up people's hearts." I made the two-hour drive to meet GG myself on Mother's Day to discover if our paths crossed only for the purpose of this story, or if she's in fact the second dog I've felt ready to enter my life. GG suggested I bring a rope so we can play tug-of-war. She said it will help me feel my strength. I can only hope it will equal her own. Update: As of publication date, GG is still in foster care waiting for a permanent home. Marilyn had intuited the following when we last spoke. "She does like to retrieve in the water, although she might be tentative. She shows herself walking and barely wanting to get her feet wet on the shore, but later shows herself out up to her neck swimming in the middle of a lake. I don't think it's something that she's had too much chance to do, but she'd like to. 'I am a retriever, you know,' she says." GG stayed with me for about a week on her way to another rescue group where space had opened up. I knew when I met her she was on her way to someone else. I've given her two things since she's been here. A red collar, "with hearts on it!" as I heard as I was shopping for it -- and a wading pool, which she walks through constantly but has yet to sit or lay in. Perhaps she's getting her feet wet for next part of the master plan that is obviously at work. Or perhaps she's dreaming of the home near water, manifesting it with each step, affirming to herself that she's on her way to where she's supposed to be. To make a donation to the rescue groups who came together to find good homes for this family, or to inquire about offering GG a home, please write to Pat at kcgrrr@comcast.net. Gail Leis is a writer and creative director in Kansas City, and can be reached at gleis@kc.rr.com. Marilyn Tokach can be reached at marilyn@Pure-Spirit.com or (952) 226-2622, and will be hosting a workshop on Animal Communication in Kansas City June 25-27. Copyright © 2004 Gail Leis |
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JUNE 2004 |
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