“A kind man feeds his beast before sitting down to dinner.” — Hebrew proverb
Tonight is the Shawano County Humane Society banquet. It will be held at The Gathering. The social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35. The master of ceremonies will be Jill Birr, of Jill’s Pet Shoppe. There will be raffles and a silent auction. Volunteers contribute a great deal of time and effort to make the banquet successful and fun.
This week has been very busy. Tuesday there were several meetings to attend, and I was out of the office on Wednesday and Thursday. There wasn’t much time available to write an article. Being an animal lover and someone who really appreciates the efforts of the humane society, here is one more story that tugged at my heart strings. Maybe it will touch you, too.
At Christmas time, post offices receive letters addressed to Santa, and those letters are often sent to organizations that respond for Santa. Sometimes the post offices receive letters addressed to God. Those letters are often sent to local churches or religious organizations. It is unknown who responded to this child’s letter, but clearly it was someone who understands the meaning of “love.” The cover letter written by a caring mother read as follows:
Our 14-year-old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter, Meredith, was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got up to heaven, God would recognize her.
I told my daughter I thought that we could, so she dictated these words:
“Dear God,
“Will you please take care of my dog? Abbey got old and died and she is coming to Heaven by you. I miss her very much. I’m happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
“Love, Meredith”
We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way up to Heaven.
That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet.
I told her that I thought He had. Yesterday there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed “To Meredith” in an unfamiliar handwriting.
Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, “When a Pet Dies.” Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope.
On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey and Meredith and this note:
“Dear Meredith,
“Abbey arrived safely in Heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away. Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart.
“Abbey loved being your dog. It is OK if you miss her, but do not feel too sad. She is happy and she would want you to be, too. I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in so I’m sending it back to you in this book for you to keep and to have something to remember Abbey always.
“Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember I love you very much.
“Your friend always,
God”
It is heartwarming to hear the wonderful stories about pets and the people who love them. Thank you to the Shawano County Humane Society volunteers and to all of you who are kind and loving to our four-legged friends.
The answer to the trivia question — Who is the president of the Shawano County Humane Society? — is Marvin Popp.
This week’s question is: Who was the manager of the Alpine Bavarian Inn located at 1276 E. Green Bay St. during 1976? His wife was the president; what was her name?
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