His mother was a single parent and had gotten him dogs before but always had to give them away because of little Joey’s health. He was an asthmatic and it was acute. He always promised his mother that if she’d get him a dog he wouldn’t cuddle it, he’d be content to just pet the animal and nothing more. His mother knew better, the child would eventually bury his small face in the animal’s coat which would cause a violent asthmatic attack and off they’d fly for the emergency room of the local hospital.
She always wound up feeling like the villain and it tore her heart out each time that she had to remove a pet from the little boy’s loving arms but his health had to come first. Each time she’d had to take a dog away, little Joey would tearfully beg her not to, promising to be a good boy and not cuddle the animal. “Just please don’t take him away, mama!” “Please mama, no!”
This time his mother had made the boy go a long time without a dog in hopes that he’d realize that she meant business about him being true to his word and not snuggle the next one. “Maybe this time he’ll listen…” she silently hoped. “Maybe this dog will be different.”
Joey had just come in from school and was closing the front door as he hollered out “Gramma, I’m home!” when he heard the sound of a dog growling and a whooshing noise that was followed by his grandma’s trembling voice “get on the couch!…get on the couch!…your mother got you a dog!” Joey was looking toward the hallway when all of a sudden he saw his beloved grandma running for dear life, her hands clenching her apron and throwing it up towards her head over and over, as she sprinted towards him. Biting and snapping at her frantic heels was a small brindle dog. As the twosome approached him, he threw down his books and raced for the distant couch that was positioned in front of the living room window.
It was a draw, as both he and his grandma sprang to the safety of the seat cushions at the exact same moment. Now the terrified small boy and elderly woman clung to each other, as they stared down at the tiny menace with bared teeth that was jumping and snapping at their feet. The twosome remained huddled there until the boy’s mother came home from work and captured the minute nuisance. The dog never did become Joey’s pet but rather his mother’s dog and she appropriately named the pest Chomper Brown because he did and he was.
This dog had found a lasting home and Joey never tried to snuggle him.
Chomper lived a long and healthy life with Joey, his mother and grandma, and the threesome learned to respect each other’s boundaries… the dog finally died from a tumor in his bladder but he had no regrets, for he had been deeply loved for many years.
He had demanded and gotten the respect of three humans in his younger days and had lived to see many other dogs come and go in young Joe’s life, as the boy still snuggled others. No, Chomper had had no regrets…it had been a good life.
Joey’s life improved greatly too when one day he outgrew his asthma and was finally allowed to snuggle his beloved dogs to his heart’s content.
The moral of this story? …good things come to those who wait…
