Keeping the Lucky Penny

Some love stories are epic tales, or in this case epic tails. This blog is dedicated to just such a story of a man and his dog, a simple, tried and true love story that changed the world for the better in the most unexpected ways. Penny, the beautiful girl seen above, left a legacy of love, compassion and opened me up to a world I had thought I never wanted to be within. Brady, the man, is a disc jockey. That title seems small when describing him. He is so much more than a record spinner. An ex military guy, he is strong, really smart, and incredibly funny. I met Brady a million years ago when I was a tiny child. He is a few years older than I am and back then he was infatuated with my sister. He was a boy from our neighborhood, a boy who was a bit of a ring leader, who had this way of getting us into just enough trouble without risking our lives. He was also the guy who covered everybody's butt if things got out of hand. We all sort just did what he told us. I have no idea what made us trust him so easily back then, maybe it was the innocence of youth, maybe it was that we were just dumb, or maybe we all knew he would never do anything to really hurt us, but if he got to laugh at us all the better. No one was more committed to comedy than Brady. I learned years ago there was no way for anyone to make you feel embarrassed if you were truly committed to the bit. It took me a lot of years to learn that, when my dear friend Brady intrinsically knew it from the time he was very young and still in school. If he was going to do something silly, you could bet your life he was totally committed to the bit. He never felt embarrassed, if anything he was able to gain followers who admired his ability to stay loyal to the outcome. Thinking about this trait in him, this loyalty, it did not take much to connect the dots and realize he was as committed to everything in his life. Brady has this way of whittling a situation down to find the heart of the matter, whether it be in humor or another emotion. It's really quite remarkable the way he takes a block of information and chips away at it to find a truth buried beneath all the outer rings. He does it with big social topics, he does it with music, and he does it with pop culture, which is where he makes me laugh the hardest. He is very punny. This past month, I was privileged enough to see via social media, him and his beautiful wife go through something heartbreaking. Publicly, he never wavered from being the strong, smart, funny guy, but for those of us who are honored enough to be in his friends list, he showed honestly, his heartbreak of taking care of his beloved Penny. It was all there, his heart open and mourning her illness. He told us how they had taken her hours away for help, hoping beyond hope that someone could save her. His brutal honesty was in every word, on each post, and we all were standing by waiting for a Christmas miracle that would save one of the loves of his life. There was the power of the throng, wanting, praying, wishing them their miracle. When so many other times we see people gather in large groups that end in destruction, here we all were pulling so hard for something beyond ourselves, pulling for this family to become whole. Brady, knowing we were all in this with him, graciously took time out to update Penny's condition. In the end, even the best veterinary medicine in Oklahoma could not save his beloved Penny. Ultimately, they took her home where she wandered in the yard, wagged her tail and in the night, surrounded by those she loved and who dearly loved her, she let go. I have no doubt she knew exactly how much she was loved. If it was so apparent over the internet, I am certain in person, face to face, it had the power that could light up even the darkest night sky. My friend, lost one of the loves of his life just before Christmas. His family, in mourning, put to rest the girl, who loved them in a way no one else could. They did not have a Christmas tree, forgetting about the holiday because they were so focused on their girl. The holiday passed quietly for his family as they faced the new year without the beautiful girl who impacted their lives and changed them forever. I believe we are made up of mostly soul with a few spare parts to keep out the cold. It is the soul in us that creates our beauty, develops our hearts and allows us to feel things so deeply we think our heart might burst. I believe all animals and humans are born with the capacity for love, some delving deep into the work of expanding mind, body and soul, and some who just sort of give up. Having had animals all my life, they are each so individual, so unique, that no generalizations can really be used with any accuracy. These furry souls, these little dependent, trusting, loyal to the end souls wait for us to help them develop their own hearts and minds. It is truly in the way they are treated that they are able to become something more ethereal. We all have the ability to choose for ourselves how we want to impact the world. Because of what Penny was taught and what she ultimately taught Brady, their souls have risen to another mark. They both, with the love and loyalty of each other raised each other up to the heavens, a little closer to God. Recently, my friend, Brady posted this: "Losing Penny has taught me one thing: no matter how hard I try, there are just some things that I can't control or fix. For me, that's a hard thing to come to terms with....but I'm trying. Maybe I'll have just a little bit less stress in my life going forward. Thanks, big pup." There it is, the result of an epic love story that changed the world for the better. I had been witness to this epic love story, when a dog who I would never have tried to help before, because of my fear of pit bulls, showed up at my door. My initial response was wishing poor, sweet Percy gone, but here is the caveat: I had literally just been a part of something so heart wrenching between Brady and his beloved Penny, that I could not allow my fear to sway me away from helping Percy. It was my singular thought, that some man was out looking for his beloved dog and I was responsible for helping him. What help I could not offer my friend, I could offer this man here, in my hometown. Had I not been aware of the love story of my friend and his Penny, maybe Percy would not be happy at home with his owner, today. Penny's soul, her light from within is what saved a sweet dog here, and turned my heart, changing my perception of what I thought I knew about pit bulls. Once again, the world became a little brighter, trying to reach the same brightness, to match the glow of Penny's light that continues to shine.