I'm very happy to present my third VGB (Volunteer Guest Blogger), Linda Schmidt.
I met Linda three years ago at an amazing writer/spiritual retreat in Des Moines, Iowa. If you're interested in knowing more about it, there are two or three short blog posts about it. Just click on the Des Moines and Iowa labels below.
One is particularly funny because I wrote it in May 2010, I'd just reached my 50th Follower and I was so excited! I guess so. I'd been blogging since the end of 2008!
That particular blog post also mentions Linda Schmidt and her beautiful poetry. I asked Linda to be one of my VGBs and she agreed, sending the following poem and pictures. Linda doesn't have a blog, but she will be stopping by to read comments.
~~~~~~~
Everything
I need to know,
I learned
from the dogs in my life.
From
Sookie, I learned unconditional love and loyalty.
No matter
whether I was away for a few minutes or hours or days,
Sookie
always welcomed me with extravagant greeting.
 |
| Sookie |
The runt of
the litter, he developed thyroid problems and lost
large
patches of hair, yet his spirit was beyond compare.
When Sookie
got skunked, instead of keeping my distance,
I learned
that he, too, was miserable and needed to be loved,
not less,
but more.
Even though
I knew Sookie's death from Cushing's disease would occur,
I was
consumed with grief, but learned, somehow,
a day at a
time, that life does go on.
 |
| Teddy B. Jackson |
From Teddy
B. Jackson, I learned the importance
of seeing
situations from someone else's point of view.
An
Australian shepherd with an intense herding instinct,
Teddy B.
lived much of his life on probation
after
corralling or biting too many persons who entered his territory.
Others would
have put him to sleep or locked him away,
but I
strove to understand him and develop a better way
of dealing
with what humans judged as "criminal" deeds.
From Maizy
Gracie, I've learned patience, social skills and adaptability.
She waited
over a year in rescue before joining me
a week
after Teddy B.'s death.
 |
| Gracie |
Now, Gracie
waits quietly at the gate when she's ready to come in,
and stops
without complaint along the trail
while I
linger to photograph wildflowers and birds.
She's
outgoing, always making new friends,
and able to
cut through friction to resolve disagreements amicably.
Though not
the official therapy dog I at first thought she might be,
Gracie has
developed an online fan club and ministers daily
to special
people in ways far beyond my limited imagination.
When we
visited Niagara Falls, a group of school girls from India
crowded
around Gracie with their cell phones, excitedly snapping photos
with her
instead of the rushing waters of the falls!
Indeed, in
these and many more ways, the companion canines in my life
have taught
me how to be a far better human being.
--Linda Schmidt, 2012
** Addendum: 11:45 am.....Linda sent me a new photo of Gracie from this morning and I just love it. I asked if I could add it to this post and she said "Sure!" Below is Linda's caption:
Notice
Gracie's eye roll in this pic I took this am...
she's saying
"I've had enough of this stuff!"
Thank you, Linda! And readers, please feel free to leave a message because she'll be checking in from time to time, to answer questions and/or comments.
* Welcome to my newest follower M.L. Swift. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! *
"My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am." -- Unknown
