This story has two parts. There are some important lessons! 

Part 1, Scene 1: My friend Joel was moving to Boulder, Colorado and had just bought a house in the country on an acre of land with a dog pen. He loves animals, and feels deeply connected to them, but had never gotten a dog because he was renting and he wanted to make sure that he was living in a situation that was dog-friendly. I like that about him. He mused about what kind of dog he might want, and tentatively decided on a German Shepherd.

Part 1, Scene 2: Joel was working out of an office in Colorado Springs. A colleague was talking to another colleague. This colleague was telling the story of two of his neighbors who had been in Denver and found an adult German Shepherd guarding an older dog at the bus station. They didn't know what to do so they brought both dogs to the animal shelter. They were hoping to find a home for the nice German Shepherd. Joel happened to be walking by, heard the  story, and casually mentioned that he might be interested in meeting this dog.

Part 2, Scene 1: I was born on October 12, 1991. I'm an full blooded long haired German Shepherd. A Denver man bought me from a breeder and named me Hoss. Then the Denver man broke his own leg and was unable to take care of me, an active puppy with big ears and huge paws that I kept tripping over. He called his friends but couldn't find a new home for me, so he brought me to the animal shelter.

Part 2, Scene 2: The two women went back to the Denver animal shelter to bring Joel the nice adult German Shepherd (even though he had absolutely no idea this was happening, had not asked them to do so, and had only casually mentioned an interest to his colleague). Just before they got there someone adopted that dog. They walked around, saw me in a lonely cage, and decided to adopt me for Joel instead.

Part 1 & Part 2 come together in a magical moment: The two women called Joel and said, "We have your dog!" Joel replied, "What do you mean, you have my dog?! What dog?" His mind was kind of a blur as he drove to their house in Monument, Colorado, not knowing what he is going to do. He took one look at me, and I took one look at him, we both fell in love and a beautiful relationship began.

What lessons can you derive from this story?

With much love and many gentle licks,
Krishna

Prologue:

My beloved friend Krishna left his body August 18, 2001. In his last days I came to realize that he was in a great deal of pain and was just staying around to take care of me. I saw how unkind that was, after all of his unconditional kindness with me, and I told him that I was OK with him leaving, even though it didn’t feel OK. The next day he became extremely weak and couldn’t walk at all, and we just put him in the living room on his favorite bed, cleaning up after him and giving him water. I’d gone downstairs to try to change my work schedule so I didn’t have to travel. He knew that it was time to go, and he somehow got up on his feet and came downstairs to get me. I carried him back upstairs, and shortly after that he lifted his head, looked calmly into the eyes of each of the four people surrounding him, and then gazed into my eyes as he slowly left his body, leaving with the same majesty and dignity with which he’d always lived his life. The next day we burned his body in an outdoor funeral pyre, laying him on his bed, along with his favorite Frisbee (since he always so loved playing "keep away" with it), and covered him with rose petals. We now have a 15 month old German Shepherd named Rumi.

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