Please Note: The dog in the accompanying photograph is the subject of the story, but any persons shown are probably not those in the story.
As we were leaving White Memorial Medical Center, after a therapy visit this past Thursday, a man stopped Trish and I and our dog, Woody, in the parking lot. We thought that he wanted to pet Woody. This happens often at White Memorial, as most Love On 4 Paws volunteers know. The staff and many of its visitors like our dogs enormously, though this man was more insistent.
He wanted to show us a photograph he carried in his shirt pocket. It was one of the Love On 4 Paws Polaroids. The photo captured an old woman holding a small white puppy. It was easy to see love in her smile. The label said the dog was Benny, another dog in the Love On 4 Paws program.
The man cried as he showed me the photo. He told us that his mother had passed away, but having this photo gave him great happiness, for he can still see his mother as he remembers her, happily holding Benny, smiling with love.
So Benny, you are still sharing the love that is the purpose of Love On 4 Paws. And, to all the other dogs out there, remember, smile for the camera, for we never know how important the photos we take might become.
