I'm trying to share more IRL, and I'll get started by sharing online, so please allow me this small indulgence. I just moved to the city from the South, and I need to break out of my comfy little shell in some small way. It's a little bit of therapy I guess. So, here goes:
Whenever I see a guide dog (seeing-eye dog) doing its job, I cry a little... instantly and invariably. And my heart hurts in the BEST way. Not sobs or anything, but my eyes do fill with tears.
It doesn't matter what mood I'm in, what I'm doing, or where I'm going -- I have to stop and watch, and smile. And I think the world isn't so bad after all, because
here is a perfect creature, right in front of me.
The impulse to hug that dog and protect it forever from any and all pain, and somehow tell it that I think it is perfect, and that I love it, is completely overwhelming. But I'm happy to just stand there and cry and smile.
Animals are without sin, and animals that help us like that are angels, right here on Earth. I think it's the closest to believing in God that I will ever get.
Confession: I saw one yesterday and one this morning, and just thinking about them, and typing this, is making me cry. Sheesh!
And yes, I cry easily and often, but never for sadness or anger... always for beauty or empathy. And those service animals are pure and perfect beauty, at least to me.