Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Baskerville. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Baskerville, and they were hoping for a miracle.
I examined Baskerville and found he was dying. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Baskerville and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Baskerville’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Baskerville slipped peacefully away.
The little boy seemed to accept Baskerville’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Baskerville’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why.”
Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation.
He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”
The six-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”
If a dog was your teacher, these are some lessons you might learn:
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Never pretend to be something you’re not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.
A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? He was aghast to discover that it was a rat trap. Retreating to the farmyard, the rat proclaimed the warning; “There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Rat, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”
The rat turned to the pig and told him, “There is a rat trap in the house, a rat trap in the house!” “I am so very sorry Mr. Rat,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured that you are in my prayers.”
The rat turned to the cow. She said, “Like wow, Mr. Rat. Rat traps. I am in grave danger. Duh?”
So the rat returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s rat trap alone. That very night, a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a rat trap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer’s wife did not get well. She died, and so many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when there is a rat trap in the house, the whole farmyard is at risk.
When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with a another boy in my class. I have forgotten what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I learned that day.
I was convinced that “I” was right and “he” was wrong – and he was just as convinced that “I” was wrong and “he” was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson.
She brought us up to the front of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the object was. “White,” he answered.
I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black! Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the color of the object.
The teacher told me to go stand where the boy was standing and told him to come stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I had to answer, “White.”
It was an object with two differently colored sides, and from his viewpoint it was white. Only from my side it was black.
Sometimes we need to look at the problem from the other person’s view in order to truly understand his/her perspective.
This is truly heart wrenching, but it’s also inspirational. We can all ask ourselves, how will the rest of the world talk about us when we’re gone? In the case of police officer Jeremy Henwood, he will never be forgotten.
A very good lesson for the youngsters of our Black communities that Police are not our enemies; they deserve our respect and when given the chance they will show kindness and assist us in times of trouble.
Police have released video from a McDonald’s security camera that show a police officer’s final act of kindness shortly before he was killed in a random act of violence.
The video clip shows Officer Jeremy Henwood paying for a 10-year-old boy’s meal at a McDonald’s restaurant in the San Diego, California, neighbourhood that he patrolled.
Several minutes after Mr Henwood left the McDonald’s, 23-year-old Dejon White pulled up behind his patrol car in a black Audi and flashed his lights.
Mr Henwood pulled over and White pulled alongside, rolled down his passenger-side window and shot the officer in the head with a shotgun.
25 year-old Kyle Carpenter should not be alive today. But he is, and he wears his scars with pride. After nearly 40 surgeries and two and a half years in the hospital, he got back to fighting shape and completed the Marine Corps Marathon.
This past summer, Kyle became the second living Marine since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor. He received the nation’s highest award for valor after he covered a grenade to save the life of his friend, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio, during an attack in Afghanistan as the two Marines were standing guard on a rooftop.
“I am proud to be a Marine. I am proud of those who have raised their right hand and those who have sacrificed to wear the sacred cloth of our nation. Freedom is a powerful and beautiful thing.” ~ Cpl Kyle Carpenter
His story is powerful and inspiring.
The story is quite powerful.
Kyle and a fellow Marine were startled to hear explosions outside their camp; enemy grenades rained down on the camp. Three grenades had already exploded before Kyle and his partner had geared up and made their way outside to combat the enemy. A fourth grenade landed just feet from Kyle and his partner and would explode any second.
‘Valor’ is defined as “Great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle”. What Kyle Carpenter did embodies the definition of valor. Before the grenade could explode, Kyle threw his body on top of it to shield his friend from the explosion. Despite being Med-evaced just minutes after the grenade exploded, Kyle was declared dead upon arrival to the hospital. Doctors would resuscitate Kyle several times and eventually stabilized him and put him in a medically induced coma.
Weeks later, Kyle awoke to Christmas stockings and decorations adorning his hospital room. He looked up and saw his father standing at the end of his bed and said “Hi Dad.” Kyle had survived.
Kyle had lost his right eye, and would eventually need some 40 surgeries to repair his broken body. His right arm sustained over 30 fractures in the explosion. Meanwhile, his partner, due to Kyle’s heroism, had survived the battle without injury.
Kyle Carpenter was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor in existence, for his uncommon valor and bravery in the line of duty. He recently ran a marathon and plans on running in a triathlon next. If ever anyone deserved the title of ‘Warrior’ it is Kyle Carpenter.
The first thing that went through my mind while I was watching this ESPN special was this: What kind of a person will willingly throw themselves on a live grenade to save their friend? What kind of will, what kind of courage, what kind of pure selflessness is required to do that? And then it hit me: the kind of will, courage and selflessness exhibited by true warriors.
It is staggering to think about. I asked myself “Would you have been able to do what Kyle did?” And I honestly don’t know the answer. I would like to think I could have been so selfless but the fact is I don’t really know. I have never been placed in a situation where such courage has been required. I do know one thing however; whatever it is that Kyle has that allowed him to make that sacrifice, I want it. If I don’t have it yet, I want it. The filial love Kyle had for his comrade was so powerful that I was overwhelmed with tears while I watched his story and even now as I sit here and type this, my eyes are welled with tears.
I think the lesson that you and I can take away from this story is this: being a warrior is a choice. Kyle had a choice: to jump on that grenade or to turn away from it and let what would happen, happen. Kyle chose the more difficult yet more heroic act. He chose to sacrifice himself for his friend. In Kyle’s mind, this was an act of suicide inasmuch as he was not supposed to survive. He knew full well that he was most likely going to die by throwing himself on that grenade; yet he did it anyway. John 15:13 says “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friend.” Kyle chose the path of ultimate sacrifice; to die so that his friend could live. Wow.
Make no mistake, Kyle Carpenter is a hero. A true hero. In this culture, we toss around that word ‘hero’ a great deal. So much so that the meaning has perhaps been dulled due to our desensitization. We say things like “You’re my hero” when someone brings us our Starbucks coffee or “X, Y, Z singer/athlete/musician/artist is my hero.” Hero is defined as: a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for COURAGE, outstanding achievements, or NOBLE qualities (emphasis added). Was Kyle Carpenter courageous? You bet your life he was. Is it noble to give up your life so that your friend can live? As sure as night follows day. Kyle Carpenter is a hero and you and I would be wise to emulate him. To study his life and to figure out how and why he was able to make such a choice in the face of death. Individuals like Kyle are people worth saying “You are my hero” to. True warriors like Kyle always deserve our respect and gratitude. True warriors like Kyle should always be our heroes and we should never stop telling their stories to our children and grandchildren.
