A few weeks ago a strange car drove down our dead-end street, I hardly gave it a thought as I was quietly sitting on my deck looking out at the sunset. Suddenly, I heard a commotion at the end of the house – around the corner came this scruffy little black and tan dog, ears perked up, tail wagging so hard that her little rear end looked like she was doing a dance. Before I had time to think, I was petting her. Then I wondered where she came from and remembered the car that had slowed down just enough to drop her off.

Really, I tried to ignore her for two days. My big yellow lab, Bear, didn't seem to mind this youngster tagging along when he went for his morning rounds. He visited all the neighbors around our lake and each one always told me stories about how cute he was when he cocked his head to the side when they speak to him, just like he understands every word they say. Now, he had a friend to introduce to them.

But, no one wanted to claim her and as I said, I really did try to ignore her for two days which meant I didn't feed her. Being an animal lover that didn't last very long. How can you let a little dog starve? Then I fixed a place for her in the garage with nice thick towels for a bed and fresh water every day.

She was quick to learn when I told her not to jump up and never came in the house unless she was invited. Each night, Bear and I would say “good night” to her as we went up to bed and she snuggled into her bed in the garage. Every morning she was ready for Bear so they could make their rounds and always gave me a big kiss to say “good morning”.

So I bought her a lime green collar, some squeaky toys and even put “Frontline” flea and ticks drops on her as she was a magnet for them. I was inquiring at the local animal shelter about having her spayed. But she really didn't like a leash and bucked every time I tried to put it on her so that she could get used to it. I told her only “beautiful” dogs wore collars so she seemed to finally accept that it would be “Ok” for her to at least keep that on.

I pondered and pondered on a name for her, Whiskers? Scruffy? Miss Muffet? then I decided on Molly! She seemed to light up when I called her that - so Molly or Miss Molly as it came to be was her name.

The Summer Solstice was here and it brought back the memory of my black lab, Totes, who had been such a dear pet. It was on the Summer Solstice of 1999 that we had her put to sleep. Something nudged me to remember that and ironically enough I had an appointment at the vet on this solstice to make sure Bear had all his shots up-to-date.

My dear friend, Cissy, works there and I had told her about Molly, we both love animals and wish that we could take in every stray that comes across our path!!

Bear made a hit at the vet, getting way too many treats, so when it was time to check-out I put him in the car (with the windows down) so that I could go back in to pay his bill. Just as I walked up to the counter, Cissy was talking on the phone to a lady who was asking if they had any “stray” dogs that they could adopt. They were looking for a little black and tan dog to be a companion for her husband who has Alzheimer’s. Cissy’s eyes got real big and looked at me – and told the woman she would call her right back We both looked at each other and said “What are the odds of me standing right here the moment this woman calls looking for a dog like Molly?”

Even before I had a chance to get back home, the lady had left me a voice mail message asking me to call her about Molly. I did and tried to give her a detailed description of what a cute dog she is. Later that afternoon a lime green Volkswagen pulled up in the driveway – it matched Molly’s new collar - a good omen!!! The lady and her daughter-in-law got out and fell in love with Molly. We played with her for a while just to get acquainted and then they drove off to Molly’s new home in the North Georgia Mountains.

Bear and I were sad to see her go but it was so touching to know that I had hosted this little dog for a week just waiting for the exact moment when the phone would ring at the vets office so that she could find this dear man to help. The synchronicity’s on the summer solstice were so powerful bringing Totes, Bear and Molly all together to work their magic on us “human” folks.

(c) 2001-2007 Rev. Dr. Betsie H. Poinsett - All rights reserved.