Monday, May 31, 2010

A sign of peace

I was raised as a Catholic, but am no longer practicing. Nevertheless, when I visit my mom--as Stan, Allie and I did this past weekend--I occasionally attend Mass with her. Masses at my mom's church actually can be somewhat enjoyable, even to me, because one of the frequent attendees is a visually impaired woman with her service dog, a male Golden Retriever who looks a lot like Allie.

The woman and her dog were there yesterday, and a gesture she made actually brought tears to my eyes. There is a point in the Mass where the priest directs the members of the congregation to offer "a sign of peace" to each other. Generally this consists of shaking the hands of the people of surrounding you in your pew and saying something like "peace be with you." The woman, however, chose to take that moment to bend down, give her dog some strokes and whisper something in his ear. I have no idea what she actually said, of course, but I'd like to think that she was thanking him for his service to her.

And speaking of thanks and service and peace: today is Memorial Day, so it's a good time to thank those who serve our country overseas--be they servicemen, service women, or military service dogs.

10 comments:

KathyF said...

You are just determined to make me cry today. Oh well, we have tissues.

Susan said...

Some tears can be very cathartic. And catharsis is a good thing.

Jan said...

Touching story. Sometimes we don't realize how much dogs understand.

Susan said...

And when we do realize how much they understand, it gets a little scary ... or awe-inspiring, depending on one's perspective :)

SchoolPsyc said...

Have you seen this page of mine on War Dogs:

http://landofpuregold.com/wardogs.htm

Susan said...

I have now. Thanks so much!

Shauna (Fido & Wino) said...

That made me all misty. Awww.

Susan said...

Perhaps I should start preceding certain posts with Kleenex alerts :)

Roxanne @ Champion of My Heart said...

I love that story, not on the peace-be-with-you part, but also that the dog goes to church with her. :o)

Susan said...

He absolutely does. When she gives a reading (which didn't happen this past Sunday), he guides her to the lectern, which includes going up some steps, lies down at the foot of the lectern while she reads, then guides her back to her pew.