A Lesson In Humility

Yesterday was a learning experience for me. It's a lesson that I already knew, but I think it's important that we ALL get refreshers in humility once in a while.

I had the privilege of rescuing an insanely cute black cat from the shelter yesterday and was going to meet up with his new adoptive Dad later that afternoon. It's always a very cool thing for me to introduce a cat to his new "forever family". We were supposed to meet in the parking lot of a veterinary office.

My heart sunk when he got out of his car as his face didn't match the voice on the phone. The voice on the phone was kind, gentle, and intelligent. The guy that got out of the car had a million freaky tattoos and odd piercings. I might have walked to the other side of the street to avoid him.

I took the very frightened cat out of the crate and he nestled into "Sam's" arms. Sam looked up at me with tears in his eyes as he leaned forward to kiss the cat on the head.

"I love you already..." he said in a voice that was cracking. "I'm going to take you home and love you forever. Thank you Beth for saving him for me. He's wonderful and I love him."

Tears poured down his face.

I'm embarrassed to write this post. I am. But it's an important post for all of us who suffer from judging people too harshly.

If that wasn't enough of a lesson, I come home to find the "tree guys" with their chain saws still working away at breaking up the massive tree that fell in my yard the other day after the latest storm. I was initially irritated to see that they hadn't made much progress. What the hell were these meatheads doing for the past 5 hours?

With great animation, they quickly explained that they were in "Squirrel 911". They had found a nest of 3 baby squirrels in the tree that they were tearing apart. I bristled as I listened and was sure they had killed the helpless baby squirrels with a shovel. But no. They stopped work and wrapped the babies up in their shirt and took them to a local veterinarian. The vet gladly took them in and is giving them care until a wildlife centre picks them up.

A special message to the gentle men I met yesterday: "Thank you for opening your heart to the animals. I'm sorry I was too lame and judgmental to initially appreciate you. You matter to me and most importantly - to them.