It was on a Saturday afternoon just over two years ago that I first noticed the man and his dog in the reading area of our local Barnes & Noble bookstore. It was obvious that the dog was a service dog, but the man did not appear to be blind or disabled, although he did not look quite well, either. Though I was dying to speak to the dog, give him a pet or two, I did not approach, for I know that you aren’t supposed to distract a service dog. The girls and I frequent this bookstore nearly every Saturday, weather permitting, except on weekends that daughter Chris has a band commitment, and I had never seen the man and his dog before that particular Saturday, yet several staff members appeared to know him well enough to greet both the man and the dog. After an hour or two, we left the bookstore and I put the man and the dog out of my mind.
The next Saturday when we went, there were the man and the dog again, in the same place. I noticed a little more, such as that the man had next to him a large tote bag, and every so often he would reach in and get a treat for the dog. The dog was mostly well-behaved, but occasionally curious about somebody passing by and as he started to follow them, the man would give the lead a little jerk.
And this was the pattern for the next several Saturdays. I learned the dog’s name before I knew the man’s, for occasionally the man would say, “Skipper … lie down”, but Skipper never spoke the man’s name. One Saturday early on, a young boy around 8 or 9 came into the bookstore and, as is the nature of a boy, he gravitated over to Skipper to pet him. The boy was of Middle-Eastern descent, a cute little guy with glasses as thick as Coke bottles, and while his English was quite good, he had a distinct accent. The man seemed to brighten in the presence of the boy.
As the weeks passed, the man, recognizing me as a ‘regular’, began to occasionally make a bit of small talk, and I learned his name was Chad. The boy, also, became a regular … his name was Mohammed. Mohammed and Chad bonded, and they each gave something of value to the other. Mohammed gave Chad, I think, a sense of purpose, and Chad gave Mohammed lessons in history, English, and just about any topic that came up in their conversations. And Mohammed loved Skipper.
Over time, our bits of ‘small talk’ progressed, and we would have robust conversations, often delving into politics, and of course the ‘man’ in the Oval Office. As we learned a bit about each other, I told Chad that I write a socio-political blog, but that these days it is more political than social, and I offered to email him a link to my blog, but he informed me he had no computer, only his cell phone, and no email address. He asked if I could print a few and bring them to him, which I did, and he said he enjoyed them very much.
We became friends of a sort, I sometimes took little treats for Skipper, and Chad offered to take the girls and I out for dinner one Saturday evening, but we had just come from the restaurant across the street. Chad always had a warm hug waiting for me. He could converse on nearly every topic imaginable, had traveled far and wide, and knew something about everything under the sun. He shared so much of this knowledge with Mohammed and it was heart-warming to watch them together.
Admittedly, sometimes the conversation was a bit more than I wanted, when I really wanted time to quietly peruse a few books, but Chad seemed so lonely that I never had the heart to walk away from a conversation with him. I discovered that he had no family nearby, he was 70 years old, his wife long since dead, and he had lived with his mother until her death, and that he was in very poor health. The reason for a service dog was that he frequently had seizures, and Skipper could detect them before they happened and warn him to sit or lie down. He was hospitalized a number of times during the year and a half I knew him, but he rarely missed a Saturday at Barnes & Noble.
Everybody … well, most everybody … loved Chad & Skipper. The staff at the Starbucks café loved them, the bookstore staff did, and most of the regular customers came to know and love them. People would wander over and chat for a few minutes, some even brought treats for Skipper. A few customers occasionally seemed annoyed at finding a dog in the bookstore, but they were the exception.
Christmas 2018 was just over a week away, and I knew we wouldn’t be going to the bookstore for a couple of weeks, so I brought a Christmas card for Chad & Skipper, and we talked for a bit. His daughter and son both lived in Florida with their families, and they had been trying to convince Chad to move to Florida where they could help him. He didn’t want to go, had lived in Ohio for most of his life, and yet, he really had no life here. His life was the public library and Barnes & Noble, for he spent every day, seven days a week at one or the other place, and yet, I rarely saw him with a book. He came there for companionship, for someone to talk to.
That was the last time I saw Chad & Skipper. When the holidays were behind us, the girls and I resumed our Saturday ritual, but for several weeks I didn’t see Chad. I finally asked a friend of mine who works at the bookstore, and she told me that they had gone to Florida for Christmas but would be back in the spring. It is now July, and they haven’t returned, so I’m pretty sure his kids convinced him to stay down there. I have only seen Mohammed once since then.
So, you ask, what is the purpose of this little story? Nothing, really, just musing on how sometimes people wander unexpectedly into your life, stay a short time, then they are gone, but yet they leave behind a little piece of themselves, a memory that brings a smile. I will always cherish the memory of that brief year-and-a-half, and Saturdays in the bookstore chatting with the man and his dog.
Wonderful story, Jill. Just wonderful!
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Thank you! It was a fun, albeit brief, time.
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🙂
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I really liked this “socio” part of your socio-political blog. 😀 Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Nan! I’m not a very ‘socio’ person … I’m more an observer of society than a participant as a rule. But every now and then …
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We are all the better for people who touch our lives. Every contact teaches us something. The more familiar we become with someone, the less we feel judgement, and the more we feel empathy. Getting to know others, softens the heart. I am sure that you and Mohammed softened Chad’s heart enabling him to accept a move to Forida with Skipper to be where family can care for him. ♥️
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I hope so … hope that they are happy, for he was so lonely here. He definitely added something to my life.
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Lives consist of connections, big, small and everything in-between. Perhaps that what lives really are.
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Rather ties in with the post David wrote about Ubuntu, doesn’t it? We are all connected … one way or another.
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It does, yes.
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A lady came in our greengrocers one busy Saturday morning with a little King Charles Spaniel. The snuffly dog proudly wore a jacket bigger than himself bearing the title Service Dog! The lady looked fit and well and the dog more likely to trip her or other customers up with its lead in the tiny shop, more likely to cause havoc than be helpful. But who knows what his important duties were?
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You’re right … it’s just like seeing someone who appears perfectly fine, sporting a handicapped sticker on their vehicle … you just never know.
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I was hoping Skipper would introduce Chad to you. Maybe Chad never told him what his name was. 😕
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Oh, I’m pretty sure Skipper was just respecting Chad’s privacy, figuring he would tell me himself in good time. 😉
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Could be, but some dogs like to yap.
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I think Chad told Skipper he would stop buying him McDonald’s chicken nuggets if he yapped! Anyway, he was a big dog and far above yapping!
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We never know whom will be invited into our life to walk a ways with us and share some love. It’s the simple encounters in our lives that make it all sensible and worthwhile.💖
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You are so right … those unexpected things like this, that last a relatively short time, but because they were unexpected are even more special, I think.
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Jill, I love the journey with Chad and Skipper. I read it all the way throigh with a smile. People lift each other up through interactions like these. They become constants in a life of stress and change.
I wager you brightened when you saw the two as he likewise did with you. Thanks for sharing. Keith
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Awwww … I’m so happy it made you smile! Yes, you’re right … it was an unexpected, brief interlude that added something of value to my life, and hopefully Chad’s & Skipper’s as well.
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I feel certain that the child will always remember with fondness the time spent with the man and his dog. 🖤
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I like to think so … it was a treat for us all, I think, and I don’t believe I will forget those Saturday afternoons.
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This isn’t the sort of story I typically read, but I’m a dog lover so I ventured in. I really enjoyed it and even laughed when you said that Skipper didn’t speak the man’s name. Chad was blessed to have so many people chat with him. Thank you for sharing.
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It isn’t the sort of story I typically write, either, as you likely already know, but it was just something that was inside me, begging to be written. I’m glad you did read it and enjoy it!
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what a touching story. Thank you for sharing this with us.
I really enjoyed reading this.
hugs.
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Thanks Scott! I’m glad you enjoyed reading it, as I enjoyed writing it … I smiled at the memory as I wrote. Hugs!!!
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“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same.” – Flavia Weedn. Thank-You!
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What a perfectly apt quote!!! Thank YOU!
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Your story warms my heart. So touching.
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Thank you! It was one of those things I just needed to share … a bit of unexpected light.
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Delightful.
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Thank you!
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