Continuing our Emotional encounter at Home Depot today
I took this vid clip of The Tedster ryde'n his sled thru the park last summer, thought I'd share it here so you can see how he usually rydes, standing tall & hanging out for all the world to enjoy. This
ISN'T something that I've trained him to do, just him doing what comes natural for him. Some times, he sits in his carrier, others he's standing & demanding attention and yeah, he knows he's a star and acts the part. Mind you, he's harnessed in & secure, but with enough freedom to stand up and move around about a foot, but he can't go flying off.
On our trip to Home Depot, Teddy was standing and posing for most the ryde, so just about every car around us had their camera phones out and snapping pics. Every stop, the car next to us would wind down the window and give us the thumbs up with a BIG Grin upon their faces. One car with an older couple followed right behind us for a few miles and followed us into the parking lot of Home Depot. Once in the parking lot, and we parked in a spot, they pulled right up behind us and parked right there and the older gentleman got out and came to talk with us. I didn't think much of it at first, as this happens all the time. I was a little curious why only he got out, and the lady stayed in the car, as women are usually more open to approaching us than men are. I'm guessing the man was in his late 60's along with his female passenger. He had a BIG Smile on his face as he approached but I noticed that his cheeks were wet & his eyes were cloudy. When he began to talk, he had a tremble in his voice that was very noticable, almost making his words unintelligible. Upon hearing this, it clicked with me that the man had recently been crying, hence the wet face and very shaky voice. This immediately brought concern to me and I really tried my best to understand what the man was trying to say. After a couple starts and restarts, and taking a few deep breaths, he got his voice back and I began to understand (for the most part) what he was trying to say to me.
Come to find out, he and his lovely wife were both very hard of hearing, making speach a little challenging and with advancing age, his wifes cataracts made it very hard for her to see clearly. He proceeded to tell me the story of how they were highschool sweethearts and had been married now for almost 50 years. When they were both in their 20's, he and his wife would ryde his Harley with their black chihuahua ryding right there with them. They shared that experience for around 12 years, but once their Rocky (pet chihuahua) got to where he couldn't handle ryding anymore, they decided to give up ryding because it just wasn't the same without there baby along with them for the ryde. So they gave up ryding and never went back to it, and about a year later, they lost their wonderful Rocky. They also never got another dog, just wouldn't be the same he told me.
He continued, that when he saw Teddy ryding around on the byke, it brought back all those wonderful memories and even tho his wife couldn't clearly make Teddy out, her husband was describing all that he was seeing while they were following behind us. He said thats when both, his wife and him busted out in tears in remembering those wonderful memories once again. I have to tell you, my eyes too were pretty wet at this point. All along the time he's telling me his story, he's petting & carressing Teddy with loving fondness. You could just see the joy and love in this mans eyes.
He then asked if he could ask a favor of me, to which I said of course. He told me that his wife also had mobility issues, making it difficult, but not impossible, to get in and out of the car and if I wouldn't mind taking Teddy over to her so she could see him up close, and to pet the little guy. My heart was about to explode at this point.
cus: tears are once again wetting my eyes as I type this, remembering it so vividly) So yeah, I said, sure, not a problem. I got Teddy untethered from the Spyder and carried him back to the lady in the car. The gentleman opened the car door, and said, Margie, here's the little dog I was telling you about, a lot like Rocky and ryding on a new fangled space looking byke. (I laughed out loud at that) The lady didn't really speak, but she didn't need to. The look in her eyes, just like his, said all she needed to say. She started petting Teddy and when Teddy started licking her cheek, tears began flowing. I wasn't sure how Teddy would react, cause he's not used to being in such situations, but he just continued to lick her til I made him stop. After about 5 minutes of her smiling the biggest smile I think I've ever seen, she commented, "He's so soft, so friendly, thank you" Her husband told her it was time for us to go and he said it was ok to take Teddy back. He then thanked us both and told us, "You will never know the joy that the two of you have brought us today. I just hope you have as many good memories from your ryding adventures as we have, Thank You." I stuck out my hand to shake his and say good bye, but he just kinda grabbed me and gave me a BIG OLE BEAR HUG, a nod of the head, and they were once again on their way.
I mean, what more can I say, :bowdown:
WE ARE TRULY BLESSED!:bowdown:
:joke: GOOD TIMES with GREAT PEOPLE :yes::joke::yes:
:cus:
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