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Outside The Box
Wed, 04/07/2010 - 8:01pm
Hello my dawlinks! I just came home from a Family Circle Meeting up in New York. The mishpokhe (family), my dawlinks, is getting smaller all the time but the stories are always the same and always enjoyable. It does mine heart good to hear it all again. I'm going to tell you one that's close to me, so relax kindeleh, turn off your phones, and enjoy.
Papa (my father) was a butcher in New York. A very good butcher in fact; well liked, fair with his pricing and generous with his cuts; but there was more to him. He believed in helping people. It didn't matter who they were, where they came from or what they needed (as long as it was legal), they asked, he helped. Mind you Papa had a very big heart and a very giving soul. His mishpokhe encompassed more than his human family, he also loved dogs; particularly large breeds.
So Papa had a bagrif (idea). Could he train a dog to help a child that is having a tough time in life? Could he train a dog to give some sort of therapy to an individual with a handicap of some kind or another? He was very good with animals, and teaching the dogs different commands; finding the right dog for the right job and eventually creating a regimen for training a therapy dog. Then the difficult part, finding out if his dogs would actually work.
HATSLOKHE! (Success)! Not only did the dogs do what they were supposed to but were such a hit that Papa sold the butcher shop and became a full time therapy dog trainer. He felt more of a pride than he ever had, he stood taller, had a glow about him and when he was asked how he found this direction from being a butcher he'd reply, "G-d sent me on this path, it was all his fault" and then chuckle with a huge smile.
Now, bubbelehs, a little side note. I met a young man at the airport with a K-9 Unit. They were on a break from training. The young man looked rather geshimult (frazzled). You know your Yenta, I approach and started talking to him. It seems Papa's methods are still being used today and the young man was thrilled to meet me and insisted on introducing me to his trainer. I wish I could've spent more time but the pilot didn't know of me... yet... so asking him to hold the plane wouldn't work.
Liblings, thinking outside the box like Papa is what I do. Finding a way to a more positive force, to lighten my burden, my pain, my trouble; these are things I try to teach everyone that comes into my life for as long as they want to stay. Now here's another bagrif for you, animals are said to help with shmerts (pain). So, you might want to go adopt one from the Humane Society if you don't have one. It couldn't hurt!
Your
Yenta
__________________
Yenta Tellabenta is truly a 'creation' for outreach and education with Lumigrate.com through storytelling and reinforcement of key concepts related to body, mind, spirit. Written by a very talented and somewhat mysterious younger wise woman who found her way to Lumigrate the summer of 2009, we hope you enjoy having your own Yenta with us at Lumigrate! Yenta (meaning 'town gossip' or 'connector') has a dedicated Forum at Lumigrate at http://www.lumigrate.com/forums/health-issuesdis-eases/fibro... and can also be found on facebook.
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You know, I saw this last night and scanned it and said 'nice work, Yenta' and posted it on facebook, and then got up today and reread it with the clear mind of a fresh day (as I'd had an animal escapade right before I saw this last night, ironically), and I have to say, this piece once again resonates SO deeply. It is so beautifully written and the stories are so wonderful. Thank you, Yenta. I am happy you had the opportunity for your Family Circle and the reminder of such a wonderful story from your family, and that you shared it with us here.
I trained a friend's dog to be my therapy dog about 10 years ago, and it was a wonderful experience. I grew up, as some know, with a commercial kennel and my mother (and family) raising golden retrievers as they had fallen in love with them when in England after World War II, where my father was stationed as part of the atomic program in those days. My mother was the 4-H leader when I was small, before I was in 4-H but my sister was, so I got to have quite a lot of action around our property, plus we boarded dogs when people went on vacation so they'd come and go.
Just last week, or two now I guess, I was visiting a friend whose grandmother had died last fall, and he is taking care of her little dog. It's a sweet little, timid, NON dangerous dog for a frail elderly person and I suggested they find it a new home. "You can't do that? It's my Grandma's dog, you don't give away dogs, they're family!' But I saw the bigger picture of how that little dog could become, when it's time after their transition of losing the matriarch, a really important piece to someone's life. I'll bet that somewhere in the future one of us will meet an older person and someone will be reminded of what I thought. And maybe the dog is in the house with the person who needs it now -- I am not the one that would presume to know that. G-d does.
Blessings to You, AND your Family, Yenta! ~~ Mardy
Mardy Ross, OTR Founder, Lumigrate "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate facebook: My personal page: Mardy Ross Fan Pages: Lumigrate, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia, Lumigrate: Fibromyalgia Health Education and Counseling (Lumigrate Webucation is a 'personal page' replaced by fan pages but used for 'fun' still).
Mardy dawlink, I'm kvelling (choked up with emotion)! You're bring me such nachas (joy) when I read of how you connect with all of us, not just your Yenta. You see, bubeleh? We're kindred spirits, you and I.
Things I didn't include in the story about Papa were of course the timing which was during WWII. Papa would help with many things. If a family couldn't afford a proper burial for someone, he'd pay for it. If someone couldn't afford their rent, they would come to Papa. I never really knew how he managed to help everyone but praise be to G-d, he would. So it's bishert (kismet, karma) that we should work together and have a lot of the same background though many years apart.
My feeling is that everyone should at sometime in their life, experience an hour with a therapy animal. They bring such leebn (love) and nachas (joy). Say it with me kindeleh... IT COULDN'T HURT!
Your
Yenta
Yenta Tellabenta is truly a 'creation' for outreach and education with Lumigrate.com through storytelling and reinforcement of key concepts related to body, mind, spirit. Written by a very talented and somewhat mysterious younger wise woman who found her way to Lumigrate the summer of 2009, we hope you enjoy having your own Yenta with us at Lumigrate! Yenta (meaning 'town gossip' or 'connector') has a dedicated Forum at Lumigrate at http://www.lumigrate.com/forums/health-issuesdis-eases/fibro... and can also be found on facebook.