Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit, and simply never leave. Susan B. Anthony
Hardly a quote or analogy I expected from Susan B. Anthony, but like her “stray dog” it stays with me.
Having a significant birthday last month, a wedding in October, and a graduation in this May I am tempted to argue. However, over time, will I forget the birthday but remember that all my children and grandchildren attended that birthday? The wedding was so wonderful, but is it more memorable than the moment my daughter told me she “was in love?” Will the graduation come close to the pride I feel whenever my daughter speaks about the passion she found in the profession she is entering? My home is fortunately filled with “stray dogs.” We place so much emphasis in today’s society on the advertised moments, that they blind us to the “stray dogs” that enter our life and never leave.
As I meditate, I thank God for people who have entered my life “unannounced.” The employer who hired me when no one else would take a chance on me, the co-worker who risked her career to write while I was an “untouchable,” the next door neighbors who showed up on 9/11 at our doorstep with a bottle of wine saying “no one should be alone on this day”, and hundreds more friends who entered my life and “simply never leave” in reality or memory. I would be devastated if they did.
This Lent may we thank God for the “stray dogs” in our life whether they be a moment or an individual. May we also pray to be a “stray dog” in someone else’s life.
Webb
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