The Hazel Project

I talked to Larry tonight who encouraged me to post this story. I’ve been stuck so I appreciated the encouragement.

This morning, I saw a homeless man walking across the Mcdonald’s parking lot while I was in-line for a cup of decaf.

He had two dogs. They went willingly with him although they were tied to a makeshift leash. It was obvious they wanted to be with him.

It made me miss my dog Bella, who would probably resist the prospects of being homeless.

Some of you know about my Silky Terrier named “Bella”

Dig this vibe:

Holiday season of 1999. I was in my “Trilok Gurtu” phase of sitting on the floor while playing percussion as well synthesizer. It was at band rehearsal I was introduced to a 6 month old puppy. She scrambled up to me sniffed out my gear then plopped in my lap. At that moment I was a man with the most unmasculine dog imaginable. Loyal to a fault, Cute but curious, 6 inches off the floor, she looked like an “Ewok”; and truely, MY dog.

Her actual name was “Belle”. I learned this later having read the AKC papers. The previous owners seemed to pronounce her name with an extra ‘A’ so I called her ‘Bella’ It infuriated me that she seemed to be unresponsive to this. Was she deaf? Obstinate? Then it clicked!

OHHH she thinks her name is ‘Belle”.

Okay. I’ll be blunt. Bella was a holy terror as a puppy. The reason we got her in the first place was because the people she had been with could not handle her. They thought she was cute. And she was. but man! She was smart in all the wrong ways too.

Bella, chewed up everything in sight. Especially things that were expensive.
We found out Bella was the product of a puppy mill and purchased at the Raleigh flea market. Sadly, a lot of in-breeding goes on there. Nevertheless, we were determined and had excellent resources. Peg, Dan’s wife, had a Dog whisperer guru friend in Raleigh named Lynn Lake. (who I hope ends up reading this). Lynn ultimately suggested crating Bella and taking her to Canine Good Citizens class.

So we did. And it made a world of difference. Of course this was after we had to replace our kitchen floor on 2306 Lyon street in Raleigh.

When Bella showed signs of being released from separation anxiety and teething. We thought we were in the clear. Then came the fight for pack order.

She and our alpha pup, ‘Chelsea’, would get into Cujo-esque fights. Scary stuff. In fact we recieved more than 1 phone call from dog sitters regarding Bella’s ‘turns’.

Apart from that she was wonderful, loyal & fun dog. She loved to play, and just be shown attention. Mostly she dug the acknowledgement that she had a toy, any toy, then would go play on her own for hours. Then surgically remove the squeeker from the toy. let the toy exist a few days. Then dismantle the white stuffing. I vaccummed Metric Barge Loads of white plush toy stuffing.

Throughout the tenure of canine rescue, Bella had a difficult time finding her place. She was always the littlest dog with the biggest hutzpah!

In 2005 I inherited Bella for good and she settled down quite a bit. She was thankful to to be the Alpha finally. We became the epitome of a one dog family. One man and One dog. One very cute small dainty dog. Looks are edeceiveing though. She could rip a hole in a car tire!

She became an endlessly loyal friend. Always tolerated me going to work. And rejoiced when I came home everyday at 3:30 to take her on a walk down to Park drive. I’d sit and meditate on a bench in the middle of gorgeous tree canopy, and she would sniff. and mark. everything!

She’d curl up at my feet at night, sometimes share a pillow, while coast to coast would play for hours through the night. One night I woke up with her literally on my head. Claiming her spot on the pillow.

Most of all she’d just sit in on my lap while I sat in that red chair for hours on end. Just wanting me to be there too. She knew we needed each other in a most profound way.
She also knew our time together was limited somehow. Every once in a while she’d give me one of those looks that said:

“I know you have to go, and I’ll be alright.”

mixed with,

“That doesn’t mean I have to dig it!”

It was within these moments I knew she understood her gig and she understood mine.
Better than I understood my own.

I’m sure at some level other dog owners know what I’m talking about.

Earlier this year, when I considered moving to Los Angeles; a pivotal event happened on Memorial day when my brother Phil called and said, “Let me take care of Bella so you can do what you need to do.”

I cried.

I guess he knew.

Phil knew I was conflicted about moving because of Bella.

She needed a home.

AND she needed an operation. Bladder stone removal. $1400.

Well. How things turn around.

Phil called me about a month ago and told me this amazing story:

He came in contact with some people in Florida who knew a widow trying to adopt a Silky. She flew up. Stayed with Bella while she had the operation, paid for it and then took Bella back to Palm Beach.

She had been widowed about a year ago.

Two years prior to her husband’s death, they lost their own Silky Terrier.

Their Silky Terrier just happened to be named ‘Bella.’

Phil is telling me this while I’m looking out at the night skyline of Los Angeles.

With speechless gratitude!

To the common thread that allows us to be our best selves.

Thanks Phil.

Thanks Bella.

For everything.

Stephen A. Thomas

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 29th, 2006 at 11:19 pm and is filed under on the path, posts & stories . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.