I was talking with all my siblings this evening on our weekly Zoom meeting. I am so grateful that we have kept up with it for so long, starting in 2020 because of COVID. Today my brother was talking about how he’s worried about his old dog again as she has hurt her leg. He’s pretty sure she did it when she had an extra long “happy dance”. He feels like he needs to just keep her calm and indoors so she doesn’t keep hurting herself. My younger sister who used to rescue greyhounds chimed in. She and her husband struggled with the same feelings. They would take their dogs out to run because they loved it so much. They were as careful as possible, knowing that they could hurt themselves at any time. But, she said, they always believed in allowing an animal to be joyful even if they are having an off day or injured. She recognized that they live in the moment and that they need to be able to have fun in order to be happy. I thought about how true this is for people too. Last weekend, the elderly couple that I help went to their granddaughter’s track meet. Their son took them both on walkers with all the potential issues that they may have had to deal with. They all had a great time and told me all about how they went up and down hills and then out to lunch after the meet. They were exhausted afterwards, but in a good way. Their son was allowing them to get out of the house and feel the joy of an outing with family.

I Found God today in a reminder that animals and people need to have fun to enjoy life and be happy.