My Story...
“Mommy, can I have a puppy?” “Daddy, when can I get a puppy?” “Please, please, please can I have a puppy?” “Dear Lord, please bless the puppy I will someday have.”
The little girl was tired and ready for lunch. Thankfully, her family lived down the street from the church building so driving home from the worship service on Sundays never took long. The thing is, Walmart was also on that same street. When the little girl saw them drive past their house, she just figured they were going to pick up something to add to the roast, potatoes, and carrots customary for Sunday meals. Sure enough, they were going to Walmart. At least, their destination was in the parking lot. It was going to be the best day of her life, and that lucky little girl had no idea the connection she was about to make.
The human-animal connection has been researched by scientists, anthropologists, psychologists, and others for decades now. Though the connection dates back to the dawn of Creation, humans still struggle to understand their relationship with animals. For a little girl with no “ist” on the end of her title, animals were simply the light of her world, the most amazing thing God ever created. She loved animals of all kinds, and they loved her back. She could make friends with the most anti-social dogs, astounding their owners in the process. On that cold, December day in the Walmart parking lot, two days before Christmas, that little girl’s dream came true. Lunch no longer mattered on the short ride back home because her world was now revolving around the little bundle of fur asleep in her lap, a genuine “Walmart special,” and it would continue revolving around that pup for a very, very long time.
Few people find their passion in childhood, but that little girl was one of them. Though she never thought of the phrase “human-animal connection,” that connection still molded her life like soft clay in the hands of a master potter. The little girl lived a life of rapturous joy playing with her new puppy. Even through heartbreak and trauma she had her best friend by her side to lick away all the tears. Eventually, the girl became a preteen, and then a teenager. She grew up knowing her life would be dedicated to animals. It was a dedication born not just from love, but a connection deeper and purer than a well of spring water.
As I write this, I fondly remember that little girl I used to be. Whenever I was around other children at school, and we would discuss things in the brutally honest way of children, I thought most of my peers were just plain bonkers. Why? Because most of them were not head over heels in love with animals, and I just did not understand that. As I have grown and matured, I have come to grips with the fact that a large percentile of the population sees animals as mere decorations at best, and pest at worst. But then, I see that some people are even more nuts about animals than I am, which at one point I thought was an impossible feat. These discoveries lead me to ponder the weird connection we humans have with animals, how they affect us, and how we affect them.
Now a young woman, I wonder, daily, what it is that has affected me so. What is it that shows in the eyes of an officer-canine team? What is it that forges the bond between a person and their service dog? What is it that enchants little children and elderly grandparents alike when they walk into a zoo? How come dogs become “velcro doggies,” and suffer separation anxiety when their people leave? Why did that little girl want a puppy so badly? Why has it been scientifically proven that animal companionship reduces blood pressure? Questions, upon questions, upon questions build up in my mind. I wonder, and I ponder, and the connection grows stronger and deeper in me every day. It is a gift, I know, but why? I have set out on a quest to explore the possibilities. After all, that starry-eyed little girl is still inside me, whispering quiet confidence in my ear.