It’s never fun to have to leave your animal friends behind when you go on a trip. However, there are some situations where it is just not possible to bring them.
When we have enough time in preparation, we periodically make arrangements for them to stay in a pet hotel or daycare so they may interact with other animals. Alternatively, you can arrange for relatives, friends, or neighbors to look after your pets while you’re away.
Reddit user SnooCupcakes8607 asked her neighbor Robert to look after her cats while she was away for two weeks.
She also owns Smokey and Jennifer, two German Shepherds, as well as an Oreo cat. Two weeks later, she returned and collected up her dogs from Robert’s house.
A few days later, she got this letter in the mail from Robert. And that was one of the most beautifully written messages ever.
The letter began, “Good afternoon. The two-week trip you took and the fact that you let me watch Smokey, Oreo, and Jennifer are the subjects of this letter. I just wanted to write and say thank you.
The story that followed caught her off guard.
In the letter, Robert described himself as an old man who no longer goes out much because of his “unlively joints.” His father, with whom he shared a house, was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer during the height of the pandemic; he had since passed away.
He had no family to live with—no wife, kids, or any relatives. Nobody would ever know if he died while sleeping because he was alone in his house.
He remarked, “Every day is just me sitting around wondering what I have done for this world.” “Until I met Smokey, Jennifer, and Oreo.”
And these three creatures gave him new life.
“They gave me the motivation to rebuild my life. I began rising from the bed early. I started taking your pets on walks outside for the first time in years. If I was feeling bad for a while, they would bark or rub against my leg every ten minutes and make me laugh,” he recalled. The highlight of their trip was going to the park with me. I had recently spent the most time outside. I met new people, struck up discussions with them, and became friends with a number of them. It didn’t only bring back pet interaction. I was ecstatic to be able to talk to my friends again, interact with people, and learn what it’s like to be a member of the human race.
He mentioned that he had since adopted two dogs. On their frequent strolls through the park, they have been stopping to chat with the friends he made there while hanging out with Smokey, Oreo, and Jennifer.
The Reddit community was captivated by the story and shared their own experiences of how these furry buddies had just brightened their days.
They made everyone in the nursing home happier by sharing anecdotes about their family dogs when they paid visits to their relatives there. Rumors suggest that nursing home staff employees may have brought their animals and left them with some of the residents.
Do you or someone you know have a tale about how a dog or cat changed their life?
Please SHARE this with the people you care about.
