Stories of Kindness from Around the World

It's What You Do, Not What You Say


--by Sajha, posted Dec 17, 2011

When I was younger,  we lived out in the in what is now a forest preserve. People had the unfortunate habit of abandoning  dogs at the foot of our long driveway. This drove my poor mother crazy!  We were by no means well off and already had a dog.

Staring out the window my mother would sputter and complain about the irresponsible and cruel people who had dumped their dog on us. She told us to stay away from the dog as we could not afford it, and that was that! I felt very upset, and I couldn't believe my mother refused to help the animal, but she was adamant.  She said, "Other people lived near by. Let them take care of the creature."

The poor dog lay at the end of the driveway and hardly moved for two days, obviously heart broken. My heart was breaking too, but I dared not say anything to my mother.

Later that day I couldn't find my mother in the house. I looked in every room but she was gone. I happened to glance out the window, and there was my mother, down at the foot of the driveway, petting the abandoned dog. In her hand was a plate of ham scraps, and the next thing I knew she was luring the dog up the driveway with the scraps. We kids ran outside as our new dog,

My mother named her Scruffy and we loved her so much!   My mother fell in love with Scruffy and no one ever mentioned her initial refusal to help her.

It's not what you say, it's what you do.

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Readers Comments

luv4all wrote: Love should supersede discipline or fear of scarcity. Your mom did that finally for the animal and it was so good.
thanks a lot for sharing this kind act:)
unknown wrote: Your mother is so capable of great love Sajha ! Wow, it leaves a powerful impact on me ... Thank you for sharing Sajha ... (-: :-) Deeper.
Sajha wrote: Thank you Deeper and luv4all. My mother continues to grow in love and wisdom.

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