Before my life-partner decided we should have a dog, I had never been to the dog park. Cats were my thing. But I’d seen the proud pet parents with their furry children on fancy leashes entering the dog park, and now it was my turn.
Cumin (named after one of my favorite spices), our frisky rat terrier, led me toward the entrance to the three-acre dog park. His excitement was such that I had to run to keep up. Inside, I set him free from his leash, and one thing became clearer than crystal. Cumin had found his people—or in this case, his fellow canines. He greeted every dog in that space. No matter the size or breed or color of the pooch, Cumin ran circles around them, seemed to kiss them, and was eager to play with them.
If only we humans were so eager to greet the stranger, to want to get to know her, to recognize him as friend, not foe. If only we all could welcome “the other” as one of us–all part of the same family.
This message is an excerpt from “Love with fur on” by Venice R. Williams in the October 2019 issue of Gather magazine.
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