A lady I work with has been having serious financial issues. One day it is the car breaking down and/or one of her kids causing issues that stabs the family budget, to the laid-off husband who doesn’t try to get a job or collect unemployment. Or she can’t sleep during the day because the school her son attends has a couple of bullies who make life hell for the kid and leave him searching for ways to fulfill himself.

Last fall the son (Brandon-12 years old) mysteriously had this 10 week old puppy follow him home. Brandon fell in love with the dog and I suspect the dog became a substitute sort of a friend.

A couple of weeks ago the mother asked me what were the signs of parvo. I told her about them and issued my concern that if the dog really had parvo & being a small dog he didn’t have much weight he could afford to lose. On the fourth day the son badgered his mother to take Beau to the vet TODAY. So she said she would drop off the dog at the vet on her way to work.

Well, Brandon threw a fit & said he was coming with his mom to take Beau to the vet & she could go into work late. She told the son over and over that they had no money to pay a vet and the dog would likely die anyway. Grudgingly she took both the boy and the dog to the vet.

As they drove down the road Brandon sat with a very sick Beau in his lap, he kept petting his dog and said to no one in particular (grin) that “there just is no stronger bond than a boy and his dog.” The mother knew she’d been outmaneuvered and kept on driving down the road.

They get to the vet and take Beau in the back. Test him for parvo which comes back positive. When the vet told them, Brandon burst out bawling. Over his din, his mother tried to explain that they had no money and asked if putting the dog to sleep was the best option for the dog since he was so sick. The son cried even louder. The entire vet clinic stopped what they were doing & watched the drama unfold.

Then the mother asked if there was a way to finance Beau’s recovery. They applied and credit was given. The mother took her son home where the first thing he did was go tell his sister (which the mother overheard) that “I sure am glad that I went with mom to the vet, because if I hadn’t mom would have killed Beau.”

The mother won’t soon forget that she got played over “the strongest bond of all, a boy and his dog”. She never stood a chance...dlb