Learning life's most important lessons from an abandoned four-legged critter - Nobody
By: Steve Trubilla
In the course of things, I often find myself asking, are people good? I remember my mother telling me, "Son, look for the good in people and you will find it."
Even when she was treated less than fairly she would, routinely, find a way of excusing those that did so. Forgiving and kind, she taught her children the Golden Rule, and lived it.
An intelligent woman, she was not naïve to the reality of life. That reality being there is good and evil in the world. She knew it, but was eternally optimistic that good would overtake evil.
As I grew older we would have long conversations about everything from pumpkins to platitudes. There was nothing we could not talk about. We talked about people being good. I remember saying to her, "Mom, I do not think everyone has a measure of good in them." She replied, "Look a little harder." I, of course, replied, "Okay Mom."
Maybe I am jaded, cynical, disgruntled, mean, grumpy or all of this. Pick the adjective or descriptor you feel squares the circle for you. I do not believe, no matter how hard you look, that there is a measure of good to be found in some people.
The innocence of a child is pure and good. So my Mom was right, at some point in a person's life there is good. The teaching of, look for the good in people and you will find it, is a good and timeless lesson. Lesson plans should be updated from time to time. Today, I would tell a young person look for the good in people, but also tell them to beware of the bad.
My mother grew up in a much different time. There was respect for the elderly, it was not necessary to tell a veteran thank you for your service; it was known and felt without being said. Children were told to behave in school, and knew they had better. Police officers were the good guys. These are just some of what people may see as little differences. To me they are some of the really big ones.
You may be asking why I am sharing this lesson and story with you. For many readers it is your story, you could tell it. So why should I tell it at all?
Somebody should do it. This is not about somebody, it is about Nobody. Nobody is what has caused me to share the story of looking for the good in people.
About ten days or more ago I noticed a puppy, my guess in age less than a year, wandering around our home. He would dart in and out, run along the fence with Oskar, our Yellow Labrador.
Try as I did to get him to come to me he wouldn't, he was scared. It appears someone had hurt him.
His trust of Oskar led him to safety inside the fence. Surly someone was missing this puppy, but who? He did not have a collar on, so I named him Nobody.
When it was time for Oskar to eat, it was time for Nobody to eat. During the days Nobody and Oskar would play. Nobody would sleep on the mat by the back door of the screened in porch. I made sure to leave the door open for him. In the morning there he was, tail now wagging ready for breakfast.
Still no one had come looking for him. To the world he was Nobody.
I thought there was a chance he may have a micro-chip and I could find his owner that way. We took him to our Vet at the Wake Forest Animal Hospital to check for the chip. Good news, Nobody was placed by Saving Grace Rescue in Wake Forest / (919) 518-1180. They put a chip in him. The Vet and Saving Grace contacted the person that adopted him.
He flatly said he did not want him. He did not care that Nobody was hungry, lost and scared. To say the least, this angered me; Scum Bag!
I decided there was no way he was going to get Nobody back.
Talking with Saving Grace they agreed to welcome Nobody back. Bless them one and all. They would find him a forever home. Nobody is going to be someone's some body.
On a certain level, I would like to give you the Scum Bag's name, address and telephone number, and let him feel some heat for what he has done. It is what he deserves.
It would not change him. I am not going to let these kind of people change me. Please, don't let them change you.
You can be a Nobody's somebody. Be kind.
This Story appeared in the Franklin Times Newspaper published in Franklin County, NC on 4 Oct 2018
By: Steve Trubilla
In the course of things, I often find myself asking, are people good? I remember my mother telling me, "Son, look for the good in people and you will find it."
Even when she was treated less than fairly she would, routinely, find a way of excusing those that did so. Forgiving and kind, she taught her children the Golden Rule, and lived it.
An intelligent woman, she was not naïve to the reality of life. That reality being there is good and evil in the world. She knew it, but was eternally optimistic that good would overtake evil.
As I grew older we would have long conversations about everything from pumpkins to platitudes. There was nothing we could not talk about. We talked about people being good. I remember saying to her, "Mom, I do not think everyone has a measure of good in them." She replied, "Look a little harder." I, of course, replied, "Okay Mom."
Maybe I am jaded, cynical, disgruntled, mean, grumpy or all of this. Pick the adjective or descriptor you feel squares the circle for you. I do not believe, no matter how hard you look, that there is a measure of good to be found in some people.
The innocence of a child is pure and good. So my Mom was right, at some point in a person's life there is good. The teaching of, look for the good in people and you will find it, is a good and timeless lesson. Lesson plans should be updated from time to time. Today, I would tell a young person look for the good in people, but also tell them to beware of the bad.
My mother grew up in a much different time. There was respect for the elderly, it was not necessary to tell a veteran thank you for your service; it was known and felt without being said. Children were told to behave in school, and knew they had better. Police officers were the good guys. These are just some of what people may see as little differences. To me they are some of the really big ones.
You may be asking why I am sharing this lesson and story with you. For many readers it is your story, you could tell it. So why should I tell it at all?
Somebody should do it. This is not about somebody, it is about Nobody. Nobody is what has caused me to share the story of looking for the good in people.
About ten days or more ago I noticed a puppy, my guess in age less than a year, wandering around our home. He would dart in and out, run along the fence with Oskar, our Yellow Labrador.
Try as I did to get him to come to me he wouldn't, he was scared. It appears someone had hurt him.
His trust of Oskar led him to safety inside the fence. Surly someone was missing this puppy, but who? He did not have a collar on, so I named him Nobody.
When it was time for Oskar to eat, it was time for Nobody to eat. During the days Nobody and Oskar would play. Nobody would sleep on the mat by the back door of the screened in porch. I made sure to leave the door open for him. In the morning there he was, tail now wagging ready for breakfast.
Still no one had come looking for him. To the world he was Nobody.
I thought there was a chance he may have a micro-chip and I could find his owner that way. We took him to our Vet at the Wake Forest Animal Hospital to check for the chip. Good news, Nobody was placed by Saving Grace Rescue in Wake Forest / (919) 518-1180. They put a chip in him. The Vet and Saving Grace contacted the person that adopted him.
He flatly said he did not want him. He did not care that Nobody was hungry, lost and scared. To say the least, this angered me; Scum Bag!
I decided there was no way he was going to get Nobody back.
Talking with Saving Grace they agreed to welcome Nobody back. Bless them one and all. They would find him a forever home. Nobody is going to be someone's some body.
On a certain level, I would like to give you the Scum Bag's name, address and telephone number, and let him feel some heat for what he has done. It is what he deserves.
It would not change him. I am not going to let these kind of people change me. Please, don't let them change you.
You can be a Nobody's somebody. Be kind.
This Story appeared in the Franklin Times Newspaper published in Franklin County, NC on 4 Oct 2018
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