By Jean Brody

The afternoon was sticky and time seemed heavy. The little boy had a firm hand around his few crumpled dollars and had shoved the wad deep into his pants pocket. His heart raced as he pulled open the squeaky front door of the pet shop and his eyes narrowed as he readjusted to the dimmer light within.

It was one of the old kinds of pet stores, the kind with one puppy to a cage, or one kitten, the kind that always brought a lump to the throat of true animal lovers because you always wanted to rescue every one and free them from the cruelty of a cage dwelling. The little boy stood for a moment, looking at every animal and then he walked straight to the last cage, the one that was the smallest and with the least light.

“I want to buy this puppy,” he said quietly to the shop owner.

“Oh dear, said the man, “you don’t want that puppy. Let’s look at all the other ones. Any one would make you a fine pet, any one but that one”, pointing to the chosen one.

“Oh no sir, I only want that one. I been comin’ in here and lookin’ at him for a week now and I am sure I want him.”

The owner put his hand on the boy’s arm. “Well, you don’t understand. That puppy is crippled. We are going to put him to sleep. Nobody wants a cripple puppy”, and he tried to turn the little boy away to look at the other, yapping puppies.

But the boy would not be turned away. Steadfast, he pulled the wad of dollars from his pocket and held them out for the man. “I only want that puppy. I want that cripple puppy.” and before the man could object one more time, the little boy bent over and began rolling up his pants legs. There, on each of his legs, were heavy braces. He stood back up and said, “I do understand because I am crippled too. But sir, I know what love can do.” He left, holding his new puppy in his arms.

I, too, believe in the great power of love as healer. Someone had loved the little boy even though he was crippled and, because of that, he had understood on a very simple level, that the love had “made him whole”. This gave him the faith that he, also, could love his precious puppy to “make him whole”, which had nothing to do with legs that did not work. In other words, he understood a great truth, that being whole has nothing to do with parts that do or do not work, and that the power of love is the answer.

The view from the mountains is wondrous.

Jean Brody is a passionate animal lover and mother. She previously lived in Winchester, but now resides in Littleton, Colorado. Her column has appeared in the Sun for more than 25 years.