“The quickest adoption ever ... (authorised by love).”

 

When the neighbour appeared at the door with a milk bottle in her hand my mum asked jokingly ...

 

               “Do you have a baby?”

               “No, but you do!” ... was her reply.

 

                                                              . . . . . . . . . . .   

                                                                                              (I was 9 years old at the time)

On this particular day my mum had to make a trip to the city and the next door neighbour was going to keep an eye on me if she didn't get back in time.

The school day was over and while playing with other kids at the front of our apartment block awaiting my mum's return, I overheard something terrible.

A few boys had confiscated all the puppies born only yesterday to a homeless dog and were on their way right now to drown them in the big hole filled with water at the abandoned brickworks site.

The news was more than horrifying and I had to do something ... but what?

Having no time to waste I decided to save at least one of them and I was thrilled when my year older neighbour Mariola joined me in the fastest run ever with the hope of grabbing a puppy each before it was to late.





 

I can no longer tell you how we did it, but we did it!
 

And while the details of our battle have faded away, a memory of our victorious run back home with two tiny treasures will always remain in my heart ... and so will the sadness of loosing the other eight.




 

As my mum was still away, I asked my next door neighbour for help and while she was trying to find a milk bottle for the crying puppy I felt a great fear arising inside of me.

“What are my parents going to say to this?”

“In how much trouble am I going to be?”

“What is going to happened to me and the puppy?” and ... knock on the door!

                                                           . . . . . . . . . . .

“What do you mean ... I have a baby?” ... my mum asked the neighbour as the answer made its appearance ...

“Mum, look what I have saved! The boys tried to ...”

Faced with two sets of puppy eyes and the whole rescue story behind it, she was “check mate” to open her heart.

“I guess, I better take them home” ... she replied.

                                                            . . . . . . . . . . .
 

While fussing around the little one we totally forgot about my dad until we heard a key turning.

“Dad, dad, look what we have!” ... my heartfelt determination began a final plea.

You should have seen me jumping for joy when the last deciding signature landed on the imaginary adoption certificate.

“What are you going to name him?” ... asked my dad.

And this is how a tiny boy named Bambo officially joined our family.
 

A decision to follow one's heart without knowing if a door is going to open is not easy to make, but there are times when we need to take such risk.

Life is not as simple as the game of chess. There are no black and white squares to follow, but rather many shades of grey for your heart to choose from.

 

                                With big thanks to my parents for opening their hearts.


Illustrations by Jane Corrigan