PAWS

Bela - At PAWS Chicago, with her donation box two months ago.

As I sit here and blog, I am, for the first time, having coffee at my dining room table and not downstairs in my basement. No, our kitchen is not ready, but our friend from Champaign is here, just 10 feet away from me behind a makeshift wall of painter's plastic as he does some drywall finishing in our kitchen. He doesn't know it, but I'm sitting here enjoying the sounds of drywall compound being spread deftly across our new walls. Can't wait to get in there.

Anyway.

Did you know Bela loves animals? Of course you do. I talk about it here a lot, I realize. But she really does

On a recent trip to PAWS Bela asked if she could work there. The lady behind the counter smiled and said she had to wait until she was 12, and then she could volunteer with her family. So in the meantime, she organized a pet supply drive that last week of school back in June.  (Thank you to everyone who helped with donations!)

As you can imagine happens quite frequently, we made a recent trip to PetCo to get piggie bedding, hay, cat food. This particular store is located across the street from PAWS, but we didn't have time to visit the animals that day. Coincidentally, I had just received an email from PAWS officially thanking Bela for her box of donations. She made me read it to her three times as we walked through the aisles of the pet store.

As I drove away we noticed a young man with a scruffy beard walking an equally scruffy dog. He was wearing the bright green apron that identifies the volunteers at PAWS, and he was negotiating a busy corner with this very large pup.

Still glowing with the delight that the words provoked in her ('Thank you for all that you do to help the animals. Your support helps end the killing of homeless pets and build a truly humane and compassionate community – one pet at a time) Bela rolled down her window and leaned way out:

 - HI! It's ME! Bela!

The man acknowledged her with a short nod and went about his business.

 - It's MEEEEE!

Blank stare.

 - I'm the one who helped!!!!!!!!

This time he just ignored her, and I secretly smote him with my magic mom powers. But it didn't bother Bela. She sat back in her seat and smiled all the way home, proud to have single-handedly saved every single animal in the world.