PetSmart Therapy

On Friday, John's "day off", we went to a favorite store, REI (outdoor recreation. Since John likes to shop there so much, almost all the clothes I wear are from there...) to spend his member-rebate on a backpack to carry his computer, so he can sometimes ride his bike the three miles to work. Of course, when we move, we need to explore new stores, or different versions of familiar stores. So we found an REI in Troy, not too far away.

Then, just for fun and because I had been wanting to see a puppy, we stopped next door at the PetSmart. (Our dog Oakley died almost three years ago.) I didn't really think I would see puppies there, but it seemed like a hopeful activity. We wandered back to the PetsHotel and and Day Camp section, something I had not seen before. Through a window, we could see dogs and their people in training. We just watched for a few minutes until someone came up to us who worked there, and asked if we were waiting to pick up a dog, and then started talking to us. I said we did not have a dog right now, but just wanted to see some. She took note of my scarf-covered head and commented that yes, I had other things to deal with now. I normally do not have cancer-related tears, but her compassion suddenly made my eyes overflow. I told her I just wanted to see dogs. I just wanted to touch one. She was very dear. She said there are almost always dogs in the store and she walked us around to find one to visit. There were not any roaming at the moment, but she quietly said she would pray for me, and she kindly insisted I come back to the store another time.

I probably will.