(Photo: The day we brought Jack home.)
Book 1 and Discussion:
Jack McAfghan- Reflections: A Dog’s Memoir on Life and the Afterlife
By Kate McGahan
I dedicate this book to my heavenly Master without whom this life would not be possible and to my earthly master without whom this book would not be possible.
“But ask the animals, now,
And let them teach you.
And the birds of the heavens,
And they shall tell you.”
Job 12:7
Love is the greatest force in the universe. It matters not if a creature has four legs or two; love applies to all of us. We all learn the most from those who love us and from those we love who don’t love us in return. We learn that all the training in the world cannot touch what love can teach.
One of our friends called me ‘Einstein’ because he thought I was so intelligent. Somewhere Einstein was quoted as saying that man uses only about eight percent of his brain. I’ve learned that there is a big difference between intelligence and wisdom. I don’t know how intelligent I am per se, but I have gained wisdom from the experience of living and loving on the earth.
In the world beyond the world you think is everything is a place where it makes no matter the size of a brain or its usage. In that world there are no brains, there are only great minds filled with wisdom and hearts full of love.
Everything in this book is true. A few names and locations have been changed to respect those who wish to remain private. What you are about to read is my personal experience. It may not be true for everyone. What I have come to learn is this: Whatever we believe to be true is what is true.
I love my truth and I have loved living it.
Love, Jack 🐾
If I could have only one wish granted or one prayer answered it would be to always be in the right place at the right time.
Life conspires to bring lost souls together. It sets us on a course where we will intersect, sooner or later, at an appointed time and place. One step to the left or one step to the right, a moment sooner or a moment later, things might have been very different for me.
Everything is in Divine Order. Life cannot be forced. Trying to make something happen that isn’t supposed to happen only brings unnecessary pain and frustration. When you trust your master, he will direct your path. You just need to trust him. All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other and follow.
At any given time, each one of us is but a moment away from the unveiling of our destiny. Until then, we have no way of knowing our life’s blueprint. Some experts say that we decide the course our lives will take and the lessons we need to learn, long before we come to this planet. If that is indeed true, the knowing of it begins to leave us the moment we are born.
She had done all her research. She knew she shouldn’t visit a puppy mill, but that Saturday morning she called the puppy mill lady. She wanted to see my three brothers, my sister and me. Four of our sisters had already found homes. One sister never had a chance. She was stillborn. Apparently no soul was ready when her tiny body was waiting to be filled with life. There were five of us left, waiting for our forever homes.
She drove several hours to the city and spent the day looking at dogs around town. By evening she had not found one that she couldn’t walk away from. The puppy mill lady had not called her back so she called again to let them know that she would be leaving the city at 6:30 p.m. She went into a store to do some shopping and returned to her car at 6:25 p.m. She was right on schedule.
“Well,” she said to herself as she started the car, “I guess I won’t be finding my dog today.”
As she merged onto the highway the phone rang. It was the puppy mill lady. It was 6:29 p.m.
“Hi! We’re home! We’ll be here all evening. The dogs are here. Come on over!”
Twenty minutes later she walked through the gate. It was a moment I’ll never forget. The night was cool, the stars were bright and fragrant traces of the family dinner were lingering on the barbecue. It was the kind of moment that was so clear and vivid that I would come to remember it forever like it was yesterday. Looking back we know what moments in life are meant to be. This was one of them for me.
In a puppy mill there are dogs of all shapes, sizes, ages, breeds, and mixes. It’s not the best place for a puppy to come into the world. A young couple had just come and bought two grey schnauzer-doodles. There were more dogs behind the big wooden fence whimpering, whining and barking. I never knew who was back there or why they were behind the fence.
Me, I was a mix of several breeds. At ten weeks of age, I was the ugly duckling. My sisters were born with beautiful black widow’s peaks on their foreheads and the same smooth shiny coats that all my brothers had. I was blonde and scruffy. My hair was coming in thin and rough and my tail was like the tail of a weasel. I was clumsy and uncoordinated, often tripping over my own feet.
They told her that our father was a Standard Poodle and our mother was a Bearded Collie but they never mentioned my maternal grandparents who were Afghan Hounds. The puppy mill lady told her that we were “hypo allergenic”, “low shed” and that we would probably weigh about 45 pounds as adults. None of it was true.
To this day I am not sure that we were all from the same family. I don’t know why I was so different from the rest of them, but I was.
She thought she knew what she wanted. She specifically came to see my little sister, but by the time she arrived my sister had been sold.
“Oh…” she said as her face fell, obviously disappointed.
My brothers hovered around her, climbing all over her and into her lap. One of them was so excited he scratched her face. I just watched them all, thinking how nice it would be to be with someone like her. I hung out in the background hoping she would notice me. The others were all quite unruly, competing for her attention. I think this is where I first learned that climbing all over someone doesn’t necessarily make them want to be with you.
It looked like she was going to take my little brother home. I was preparing myself for that. She was sitting on the ground and he was sitting in her lap, sleeping like a baby. Then she looked over at me for the first time and our eyes met. I could almost feel her heart touch mine. They say you fall in love in less than a second. I can verify that this is totally and utterly true.
I was overwhelmed with my feelings for her, but something in my heart told me to remain calm. I retreated to my dingy little cardboard bed, turned around a few times and lay down. I rested my head on my front paws as a humble gesture and continued to steadily gaze at her. Waiting. Watching. Hoping. I tried to crawl into her mind with my thoughts so that she would want to take me home instead of my brother. I imagined the fun the two of us would have. I pictured us playing together, walking together and discovering life together. I found myself promising God that I would be a very good dog if only He would let her notice me and make her want to take me home. As she looked across the yard at me I gently wagged my tail.
She then asked them about me.
“Oh,” they said, “I don’t think you want that one. He plays rough with the others. He almost killed one of the younger ones.”
I felt bad when they said that but she didn’t seem bothered by it. She didn’t seem bothered at all.
“I kind of like him anyway, but…” she continued, “They say sometimes a dog picks you rather than you picking the dog.” She gestured toward my brother in her lap and said, “Maybe this one is picking me. Maybe I’m supposed to take him?”
Oh no, I said to her, you aren’t supposed to take him. You’re supposed to take me.
All the while she was looking over at me instead of at the one in her lap. It made me feel special, the way she looked at me.
The puppy mill lady went over to her, took my brother from out of her lap, and they continued talking. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but she kept looking over at me.
“Well, guess what?” the puppy mill lady finally said, “It’s official. All this guy wants is a warm lap. I don’t think he is choosing you at all.”
My heart did flip-flops! I lifted my head and looked at her in anticipation. Sure enough, she came right over to me and sat down at the edge of my cardboard bed.
“May I sit with you?” she asked.
Oh yes! I said, wagging my tail in welcome.
“I think this is the one,” she announced with surety.
Oh I was so happy! I couldn’t wait to go home with her! I didn’t really like this place that was my first home.
Then she took me completely by surprise. She went and left me there! She talked a little more to the puppy mill lady and the next thing I knew, she was leaving! She kept looking at me with a sweet look of longing even as she walked back through the gate and closed the latch. I put my head down again, accepting the fact that I might not have a forever home.
I dreamed of her many times in the days that followed.
She returned home and, even though she liked me a lot, she wasn’t sure she could make the commitment to a ten-week-old puppy. Two weeks later she cast her fear aside and called the puppy mill lady.
“Do you still have that little blonde one?”
“Oh, yes. He’s still here. He’s been waiting for you.”
Oh how I had been waiting! My brothers were all gone. A lot of the others were gone too. I didn’t know where she went! I thought she was gone forever! I was beginning to think that nobody wanted me, but she did. She wanted me after all.
This time she came through the gate and she saw me right away. She had a big smile on her face and she only had eyes for me. The puppy mill lady greeted her with a handshake.
“Welcome back, Kate.”
She. Kate. I liked her name. It had a familiar ring to it.
“It’s a big decision for me,” Kate said to the lady, “but I think I’m doing the right thing.”
“Of course you are. Come with me.” The lady didn’t seem too interested in any of the reasons for anything.
I followed them as far as the screen door of the house and waited for her there.
“That will be $250,” said the puppy mill lady. “If he dies in the first six months you get a $250 credit towards any dog you want.”
“He’d better not die because he’s the dog I want,” said Kate as she wrote the check. She glanced over at me furtively through the screen door like she couldn’t get me out of there fast enough.
I rode home in her lap. It was my first ride in a car, watching trees and clouds and rooftops go by. Kate seemed to enjoy watching me watch the world come into being. I looked forward with pure anticipation. I could feel the joy in her heart and somehow I knew it was because of me and joy grew in my heart too.
_________🐾__________
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I hope to see you all next week for further adventures as Jack explores life in his new home!
(If you can’t help yourself and feel the need to read ahead, you can find our books on my website and of course on Amazon Worldwide. “Reflections” is available in paperback and Ebook (on Amazon). The lovely Rev. Richard Brendan is the gentle and humorous voice of Jack McAfghan and he is truly wonderful in that role. It’s a joy!)
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