Little Acts of Kindness Reap Big Rewards
Sara – My Goodwill Ambassador
Most of you who know me on a personal and professional basis know that I have a goodwill ambassador who travels with me extensively. She’s a dog, an eight-pound Yorkie. I hadn’t planned on that before she entered my life…before she entered our lives.
My partner, Dr. Craig Kinshella, a veterinarian, had informed me almost 10 years ago that he had clients (an elderly husband and wife) who had asked to will their dog to him. I thought nothing of this conversation until five years ago he calls me to say that the husband had passed away and the wife was going in to an assisted living facility. She needed to relinquish Sara. I quickly realized that this was going to be life changing. We had four mature cats that were strong willed and thought they owned the house. How would a Yorkie fit in to the household and our busy work and personal life schedules?
I can’t deny the fact that the first three months were anything but chaos. Sara wanted to befriend the cats. The cats wanted nothing to do with her. There were days and nights when I doubted that our household would be peaceful without screaming cats and a barking Yorkie.
Then, without a lot of explanation our household seemed to be changing. The cats and Sara seemed to develop a truce. They all realized, they needed to get along.
At the same time, I was taking Sara with me to work and on various road trips. She loved to go to work and was a real social butterfly. She was a greeter and made a conscience effort to act kindly to everyone she met; cats, dogs, babies, little kids, nice adults and cranky adults. It didn’t matter. Sara felt that everyone was her friend.
We became the ambassadors of Old Town. Sara would greet the tourists, be photographed and get treats. She thought her role was to make everyone happy. Her energy, attitude and contagious personality could melt even the most cantankerous person’s heart. She had that look and personality.
Sara also had this unbelievable ability to be a strong and active little Yorkie. Dr. Kinshella, who has been her veterinarian for her entire life, knew that Sara had lots of health issues. Together, we did our utmost to keep her health issues under control. Unfortunately, over Christmas weekend we learned that Sara had an untreatable heart tumor. She left us on December 28, 2014.
We are still in disbelief that Sara isn’t here. She was an awesome little dog. Sara taught us that little acts of kindness can reap big rewards. I am so glad that Dr. Kinshella brought her home five years ago. I will miss my little goodwill ambassador and will never forget all that she did to touch people’s lives.
Sara had the amazing ability to befriend everyone and everything.
Love you Sara.
Category: Local News
