Bump went the door on the dog’s nose. He pulled back quickly. His owner tried again. Bump. The dog now hung back, afraid to go near the door. His owner spoke to him quietly assuring him it was ok. This time she managed to get him through, un-bumped.
As they walked past where I was sitting I said, “Those doors are hard to manage.” She kept walking. I thought she either considered me a rude American, or hadn’t heard me.
But then she turned back and said, “Yes, he was quite frightened.”
I nodded and said that he seemed fine now. She smiled a gentle, somehow wistful smile.
“Yes,” she said in her soft, Yorkshire accent, “he’s alright if he’s with me.”
“I’m glad you have each other,” I responded.
Dogs. They are extraordinary animals. This one was a large greyhound, grown plump after what I imagined was a racing past. My new acquaintance explained that he was a “rescue dog” and she had only had him a few weeks. While she spoke, he lay down at her feet, safe in her presence. “Bobby” was his name. Not a name I would have guessed, but a name she said with such affection it was easy to see how much he meant to her.
Later, after their walk, she stopped by where we were still sitting and leaned over to say quietly how nice it was to meet a “stranger, from America.”
She continued by saying that her husband had recently passed on, and she had needed to sell their home and move into an, as yet, unfinished bungalow. That was why she was at the hotel, waiting for it to be ready. I sympathized but she said,“I have faith, you know. I’m a Christian.”
“I am too,” I replied. “I’m sure your faith will see you through this difficult time.”
“Oh, yes,” she said.”It already has. I have Bobby to prove that. I believe you meet who you need because of God’s love. Like Bobby, and you.” Then she said she would keep me in her prayers. I said I would keep her in mine.
I did not see them again the next morning, before we left, but I will never forget her voice, or her dog Bobby lying at her feet in that stuffy sitting room. Most of all, I will not forget her simple, clear trust in a God who would help get her through her hour of need. Would send her dogs, or new friends, or whatever else she needed.
Maybe dogs aren’t the only ones who know what to trust.
