Robin Agnew
As you go through life, meeting people who seem to be doing exactly what they were set on the planet to do is kind of rare. Since we meet lots of authors it's not totally rare, but many authors also have day jobs. And I love what I do though there's always a niggle at the back of my brain that says "Why didn't you become an artist?" So meeting someone who has none of those niggling doubts is a true pleasure.
Actually my own father is one of those people, but much as I love my Dad, this is not about him. Last week I reluctantly went to a dog show where my parent's dog, Sadie, an incredibly beautiful Scottie who has been winning everything in sight for the past couple years (she won the terrier group at Westminster last winter) was going to be in a dog show very close to my home.
I was going to skip it but my Dad convinced me to go, and like many an activity one is dragged into, it turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. The reluctance stemmed from the fact that when we were kids, my parents dragged us to many dog shows, dog banquets, meals, gatherings, etc. My siblings and I swore off dogs early on (but you know how that goes. Still, none of us has a terrier, my parent's chosen dog group).
I was not prepeared for how beautiful Sadie was "in person." Photographs had not prepared me for the way she moved, her beautiful coat, or her general demeanor. She seemed like another species from the other Scotties at the show. It was a pure delight to meet her.
Even more delightful was meeting her handlers, Gabriel and Yvonne Rangel of California, who had brought eight dogs to this little show in Michigan (in preparation for the giant terrier pow wow in Montgomery County, PA). As things worked out, at the end of the show, Yvonne flew back to California with some of the dogs, and Gabriel stayed in Michigan with six dogs (including Sadie). They formed a caravan to my parent's kennel outside of Lansing, and I was fortunate to drive along with Gabriel on the way back.
Gabriel, originally from Mexico, told me that when he was eight or so he began to find strays, who were injured or starving, and he would sneak them home and nurse them back to health. He said eventually they barked with joy to see him and so one day he would come back from school and the dog of the moment would be gone. He was totally undeterred, and life took another turn for him when he saw the Disney movie "The Ugly Dachshund", which is about a Great Dane trying to fit in with Dachsies. Gabriel was captivated by the Great Dane.
At age twelve or so he found a Great Dane and puppies in a Mexican pet shop. He wanted one very badly, but the selling price was $500 which for a twelve year old, of course, might as well have been five million dollars. However, he figured if he "borrowed" his Dad's Super 8 movie camera and gave it to the owner, he could make payments on the dog and eventually get his Dad's camera (which his Dad never used) back. A deal was struck, and he brought home the Great Dane puppy.
His father asked him what it was doing there and Gabriel told him it was just going to stay for a "little while." Of course that was an untruth, and eventually his father loved the dog too. Gabriel eventually managed to pay off his debt. Sadly the camera had been completely broken when he went to get it back, but Gabriel, a cheerful person, seemed untroubled by this as he told me the story.
He then told me that soon after this he went to a dog show - he might have been fourteen or so at the time - and the path of his entire life was clear to him. He thought he had never seen anything so wonderful. Many years later, Gabrel still makes his living showing dogs and being around them all the time. And Sadie? She seems to love him. Gabriel, in short, is doing exactly what he was put on the planet to be doing. And to me, that was a joy to encounter, and to witness.
Recent Comments