Rise of the Roamin’ Empire (1)

Jim and I have become captives in our own home. This is obviously a new chapter in our history…

She entered gently, arrived like a whisper of wind, her demeanor timid and frightened; she cowered, but she conquered, nonetheless. We never knew what hit us.

Her name is Roamin’. We got her from an intelligent and soft-spoken homeless man. In his own wanderings, he had found her running loose, lost and scared; he adopted her, and named her Roamin’, and the two of them began their mutual Roamings, hopping trains and hitchhiking across the country. She conquered him first.

Here is the story.

It started with a book. Daniel had enjoyed a book about Mother Teresa and knew I would love it too, so he ordered a new copy for me from Amazon. It arrived in the mail and as I was thumbing through it for the first time I discovered three one hundred dollar bills stuck inside. Being a new book, I understood that this wasn’t an accidental discovery of someone’s stash of savings, but an individual’s intentional act of helping an unknown person anonymously. (Some people enjoy mystery and adventure in their gifting….) So I stuck the money in my purse with a prayer that I would not miss the opportunity to give it to the person it was meant for. I must have been watching for a week and a half when Matthew showed up at the tearoom.

Matthew was young, articulate, intelligent. He was also tired, hungry, and sad. We put him and his sweet little doggie out on the tea terrace, and Daniel spent the whole day with him, visiting and getting to know him. We enjoyed his company! We enjoyed his gentle little dog, Roamin’, too. Half his pack was taken up with dollar store dog food and a big, heavy plastic jug of water for her. On the road she had been sleeping with him in his sleeping bag at night – the two keeping each other warm. He took pleasure in holding her on his lap, and she soaked up his affection. The two obviously had a deep and loving bond. She would hop a train or tramp across country with her beloved master – anything to stay close to the one who loved her.

We all need to be loved…

Amazingly, Daniel was able to convince Matthew to enter a program in Louisiana, a year long program! Also amazing, they had an opening, and Daniel downloaded and printed out the paperwork, and he and Matthew filled it out together. There was one problem, though. They did not take dogs. Matthew was suddenly not so sure it was a good idea. So I told him about the $300 in the book, and that I would keep her if he would go. When he finished the program, I would send her.

We bought a ticket to Louisiana. He and Roamin’ had dinner with us. Matthew met Daniel’s family and made the boys promise to play with Roamin’. He showered and shaved (a handsome young man!), slept in our second bedroom, and Jim took him to the bus station early in the morning. He was to arrive in Louisiana on Friday, but couldn’t enter the program until the next Monday.

Would he stay on the bus all the way to Louisiana? If so, would he hang around until Monday and enter the program… WOULD he???

…the story continues…. Until then, I remain

Yours for the return of Grace, Civility, Beauty, Gentility, Excellence, … and … Relationships – It’s All About Relationships!

Mary Alice