A Gift Like None Other {Part II}

" There's a holy host of others....standing around me."

Carolina On My Mind - James Taylor



A Gift Like None Other {Part II}


My birthday arrived in the month of June in the year of 1998, and I was waiting with great excitement for this day; I had agreed to pick up the pup in the late morning hours and had an extra hour to hang out with my friend Cassius for a bit. We spent many a day taking apart outboard engines and the like but today, I found him in his tool shop looking at an object he'd held in his hand up to the light - an arrowhead perched there in his palm, its contours expertly crafted perhaps hundreds of years ago. He explained he was weeding his garden when he found it just before I got there. As a birthday gift, he handed it to me...I was touched by the man's generosity with a stone point such as this. I shook his hand warmly and explained that I was leaving to go get my second birthday gift of the day - a German Shepherd puppy that I had scouted out and become friends with over the last few weeks. He was genuinely pleased to hear that I was acquiring a new pal as most country folk are in general in good spirits with a canine around the home or farm. I slipped the good luck piece into the scrub top pocket I wore and headed out the driveway.

Driving ' down 89' as I put it, soon enough I was there to pick up the pup, get the AKC papers together, usher her gently into the car but before doing so, I had the chance to see the Father dog before leaving: there he stood, a Shepherd of massive build, jet black face with the biggest features I had ever witnessed! Easily weighing in at over 100 pounds, he cast a fearless gaze upon me while pacing the kennel's outside run. I marveled at his frame and his grace. A noble creature no less. I knew with certainty that there were plenty of traits that were handed down from him to this cute little pup resting atop my seat belt. Cradling the puppy carefully on my lap in the front seat, I drove especially slow over back roads and got her home in no time. I knew there was something that I needed to do right away. Introduce her to one of my best friends...Cayuga Lake!

You will read that German Shepherds are said to not especially like water, preferring to not swim if at all possible. I must agree to disagree - strongly. When I brought Teva down to the lake that first time, it was like combining say peas and carrots...and this pup was a natural! She waded right in, bent her head forward with an incredible look on her face...., " How did someone make my water dish so big? " her expression seemed to ask me. With no training, she attempted to take a drink of water from the lake and small wavelet nose-high brushed her muzzle and caused her to gag and sneeze briefly. I picked her up and smiled long and plentifully that afternoon, introducing her to all the sights....the willow tree, the boats and.......the dock. Here on the dock, it was a classic watershed moment. The pup was unsure of exactly what the purpose of the dock was but followed me to the end of it nevertheless. The dock itself was approximately one hundred feet in length...and at the end, it was a good three to four feet above the water's surface. To get in to take a dip, one would use the ladder to get down to the surface....and with her watcing me carefully, I did just that. I swam out but a few feet from the dock itself and looked up to see Teva sitting there, wondering exactly what the hay was I doing?!? I called to her, told her not to worry...

Suddenly I realised that I was missing a very important gift - the arrowhead! I had foolishly left it in the shirt pocket and luckily, I didnt swim far and wide from the point of entry. I was frantically searching for it when I felt water splash the side of my neck! "What the he- !", I thought, " who just threw something my way?". Answer: no one. It was Teva - she had jumped the nearly four feet of air clearance into the water off the dock and into the water! I was stunned. Here was a eight week old pup, never been outside the kennel before but had bonded with me so quickly that she could not stand to NOT know that her new pal was okay or not. Frozen in amazement, I watched as this tiny black ball of wet fur surfaced seconds later and instinctively, she looked in my direction...you had to see her do the puppy paddle over to me - and gamely too. I was amazed...and totally awed at the courage of this pup. It was a true watershed moment. All things I had seen in her before were confirmed. I had made lifelong friends with a beautiful young dog in minutes. Carefully scooping her up from the watery surface, I hugged her and consoled her, told her how sorry I was for scaring her and that it wouldnt happen again. Let me just say that this was beyond a 'Kodak moment' experience. It was a confirmation that even as a toddling pup, she risked what seemed to her life and limb to plunge into water from above. Copious tears welled up into my eyes; you had to see the expression on her face - her ears initially perked up, her eyes smiling and then she wriggled her legs in my embrace and proceeded to give me some sweet licks on my earlobes and the tears in my eyes. Under a brilliant warm June sun, in the crystal clear waters of the lake, I realised that the greatest gift comes from a selfless heart. How such great faith could come from such a tiny gift shook me with warmth to my very core. It was heaven for me, a birthday moment to treasure.

At this point, I spent the next number of weeks, carefully cradling her with my fingers beneath her ribs, and encouraged her to swim forward....with purpose. I could feel, literally, the muscles and sinews being used as she began to discover one of her greatest loves....swimming. And become a very powerful swimmer she did. Her father, that great creature, had given her powerful paws and legs to enable her to swim non-stop for hours should the need arise.

Her mother gave her the sweetest, most accepting and discerning disposition I have ever seen in a canine.

It would be my job for the next ten years to combine all of these characteristics into a dependable and interdependent friend of incredible loyalty.

For those of you who are curious, yes - the arrowhead WAS found after two hours straight of searching with mask and fins. I had just about stopped looking for it and there it was, atop a flat rock surface some 5 feet down. I had passed this very spot at least 10 times and didnt spy it then. Such is life; we ofttimes must look, look again for gems in all the most unlikely places. That day, I feel with great assuredness that the Great Spirit blessed me twice - on my birthday no less.

It is a day I will never forget.