A Stranger at Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is approaching, and this is a time when families get together. Yet, for some individuals, that is not a real possibility. Because of geographic distance, work-related commitments, or even severe family dysfunction, some individuals do not have family with whom they can celebrate the holidays. Please allow me to share with you a very special and personal story of how a stranger joined my family’s Thanksgiving celebration.
When I was nine years old, my mom, dad, and sister and I were pulling into the driveway of the church my dad pastored. We were returning from my grandparents house, and we were full from a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. The parsonage, in which we lived, shared a driveway with the church’s parking lot. At the front of the church, there were about ten steps that led up to a small landing at the front entrance of the sanctuary. Dad noticed a dog sitting on the top of the landing. Dad said, “I don’t want anybody to feed it because, if we do, it will never leave.” On the third day, Dad fed him. We had a small building that stored a lot of wood and other materials. Dad would go out there and put some dog food. The dog would not come close to dad, even though he was obviously very hungry. He would eat after dad left. This went on for several days. Dad tried to pet him; and once he was able to get close to the dog, the dog would lie down and hold up his leg as if he were about to take a beating. Someone had very obviously mistreated this dog and thrown him out on our doorstep.
A few days later, a large snow storm came to Albemarle, NC, and dropped 22 inches of snow. Dad became afraid this dog would freeze to death and opened the garage door. When Dad whistled once, the dog came running into the garage all the way to the top of the stairs which led into the house. It was if it was his place and had been his place for years. Bowser, as we had named him by this point, was a different sort of dog. He had a full German shepherd head, including the standing ears. He had a long golden coat and a full tail. Yet, he had short little legs and was about half the size of a full-grown German shepherd. Before mom and dad would consider fully adopting Bowser into our family, Dad took him to the vet for a checkup. The vet said he was half German shepherd and half dachshund. He literally looked like a miniature German shepherd.
Bowser passed the vet’s physical, and was very quickly integrated into our family. Eventually, he was very open to us petting him. Even though he had been abused, the only time he was ever aggressive was when an intruder approached my sister inside our garage. She screamed, and Bowser bit him! Dad taught him to shake hands by saying, “Give me that howdy paw.” He was an outside dog, but he did come into the house almost every evening for a few minutes. Usually, I was lying on the floor watching TV. Bowser would come into the house and stand beside me. I would lay my arm out, and he would lay down with his head on my shoulder and his back against my side. Then, he would take his paws and nudge my arm until I wrapped it around him and rubbed his belly. After we shared a few minutes together, he would get up and walk to the door ready to go outside again. I will always be thankful for Bowser.
Inviting animals or humans into your home is a situation that one must approach with caution. Yet, you never know what type of impact a holiday invitation will have on that individual, and you might get lucky to develop a friendship that becomes like family. So, as Thanksgiving approaches, look around and see if there is someone that could use a “howdy paw” and an opportunity to share in thanks, celebration, and love.