A Lesson fron A Dog.

My Mind just went far back to a little dog we had. His name was Skipper. We never knew that ole Skip was a hunting dog, so naturally he killed chickens and stole eggs. The neighbor’s. My mother decided to get rid of Skipper. Though an extremely good watchdog, she could not deal with the neighbor’s complaints. I suspect there must have been secret compensations. There was a man who collected bats for the Ministry of Agriculture. He traveled to some of the remotest places on the island. He was given the job to take Skipper away. Thinking about it, I think he enjoyed doing the job of “animal disappearer”. Ole Skip was taken to the forests of Rio Claro and released.

Life went on normally and Skipper being gone was a relief. I really can’t remember missing Skipper. His absence was negated by the presence of his friend, Ringo. No one missed ole Skip.

One day I was performing my childhood chores of weeding the front yard. I heard a wimpering cry at the gate. To my surprise there stood Skipper, thin, dirty and crying to be let in the gate. I remember my heart dropping. It was as if that dog spoke to me. I quickly ran and opened the gate. Skipper ran into that yard like he never left. He was so glad to be home. I guess being an animal he showed no anger, no disappointment, no pain. But you could quickly look at Skipper and know that he was extremely weak. I called out to my mother and she came running, hardly believing her eyes. To this day, no one knows how Skipper made it back home. That dog put back on some weight and continued watching our property, playing with us, the children just like nothing ever happened.

Although ole Skip did occasionally kill a chicken my mother never thought about getting rid of him again. Skipper grew old, performing his duties with a loyalty I’ll never forget.

I thought of Skip today and I must admit he brought tears to my eyes. See Skipper left a message and a lesson. We all have friends or a family member who has a trait that is unpleasant to us. Like Skipper we sometimes choose to throw them away. Thinking about ole Skip, it reminded me that we should have looked at his extremely good qualities, at least when he’s not stealing eggs. Friends like Skipper are irreplaceable. Don’t throw them away. Value them on their entire package. I often wonder what would have happened if Skipper never found his way back. Now I know.

Somebody would have gotten the most loyal friend I have ever had. We all have Skippers in our lives.Your friend may suck, but all things considered, that may be the most loyal friend you got..