12 pounds of energy

On the chilly, rainy night of December 2nd of this past year, I decided that it was time to bring some more life into the house.   I officially adopted Jasmine and Grace.   How did I end up with these two mischievous little furballs?   It was an easy decision for me.   I kept my question for the Summit Humane Society pretty simple.  “Who’s been tough to adopt and needs a home?”   

Coming home, but not real sure about all of this

These two cats have an interesting story.   They were brought to the Summit Humane Society when they were only 3 weeks old or so.   Both of them had severe upper respiratory infections also.   As kittens, they spent most of the time getting poked, prodded, tested, or having yucky medicines given to them.   Because of this, they look at humans as giant needle sticking, disgusting medicine giving monsters.   By the time they were healthy enough to go up for adoption, they were no longer cute kittens, but now cats.    

Not only were they not the cute and cuddly furballs, but they were scared of humans.   The caretakers at the Humane Society did wonderful things for the girls, but Jazzy and Grace aren’t really so sure of that though.   People would come in, hang out in the visiting room with the girls, and they would just hide in the corner.   It’s this unfortunate reaction that made most people say “I’m just not feeling it with these two”.   

When I started to think about adopting cats again, I started to think about what type of cat I wanted.   What their personality would be like and how they would interact with me.   I looked back to a cat that I had for 13 years before named Rocket.   She was amazing.   She always greeted me at the door.   She was always ready for dinnertime.   She was always by my side.   “Yes….that’s what I want again!”

I realized that is the cat that everyone wants.   That is the cat that gets adopted right away.   I started to ponder my position in things and I felt that I should be taking on a challenge.   I should be learning something new and different.  I should be doing something that’s going to be a change and force me to change.   I have the capability, so I should be the one to adapt.   As soon as I was told about Jasmine and Grace, I knew that they were the ones that we going to come home to teach me.   

For the first 3 weeks, they never left my home office.   2 litter boxes.   2 food dishes.   2 water bowls, and about 10 times more room than they’ve ever had.   I could almost see the “OMG this is scary big!” looks on their faces when they finally ventured out of the cat carrier.   When I started to open up other areas of the house, Grace started out as the brave one.   Unfortunately, that was short lived as she made it to the living room before hiding under an end table and refusing to move...for 24 hours.   Once she got back to the office (with some assistance and me earning a few scratches for my efforts), it was 2 more weeks before she decided to venture out again.   

The first 5-6 weeks were tough on all of us.   I wanted to encourage them to get out of the office and explore the rest of the house.   My presence usually only scared them into hiding.   I wanted to show them some of the neat things to climb on.   I wanted to show them all of the room that they now had to run around in.    They sat huddled in the corner together.   

Sometimes they just creep on me while I workout in the morning.

It’s been 5 months now that Irving and I have had the two new housemates, and we’ve both learned a lot.   Irving has learned that cats turn quicker than he does….especially before a wall.   He’s also learned that cat claws are ouchie if you get in the cats face too much.   For me, there’s been a few lessons involved.  

1. Patience.   Sometimes, we need to do things on our own schedules.   Pushing someone is good, but know when to let them work on their own.
2. Adapting.   When I adopted these two, I thought “it’s cats. I’ve done this before”.   These two cats are a whole different ball game.   I’ve had to adapt my thinking to fit them specifically.   We’ve all benefited from their ability to get me to do that.
3. Comfort.   I went a bit outside of my comfort zone when getting these two.   Normal cats are wonderful creatures.   Watching these two do what they do has made me laugh, learn, and think more than a “normal” cat would.   These two are the classic case of “Step outside of your comfort zone if you want to learn”.  

Anytime is playtime.   Especially 3:00 AM

Jasmine and Grace were at the shelter for 500 days.   They’ve been here for only 156 so far.   I still haven’t been able to pet Jasmine and I can only pet Grace when she’s got her face in her food dish.    I’m ok with that.   These two have made this place home.   I’m glad that they are willing to share it with Irving and I along with many, many lessons that they have in store for us.   

Reflecting on the warmth

Today was the last mission of the season for the Akron Snow Angels.   As everyone enjoyed the 70+ degree temperatures today, most people could be seen out enjoying the weather.   Most people have the “spring has sprung” feeling as many of us seemed to forget that there were below freezing temperatures and 5-6” of snow on the ground just 2 days ago in many areas.   The homeless have not.   

As most of us go to bed thinking of summer cookouts and outdoor activities in the summer sun, the homeless stay wondering how cold it will still get.   I did see a lot of relief for many of them as they are realizing that the worst part of the season should be behind them.    In the same sense, you can also see in their faces that they realize that the battle isn’t over yet.   There’s still cold to fight.   There’s still a struggle to stay warm.   

As I drove home, the conversations that I heard made me ask some questions of myself.   What am I worried about?   What concerns me?   Why?   I kept asking the “why is that” question until it became a “is it a basic need” question.   In most of the cases, the answer was no.

Lesson one:   Concerns are often based on the overall situation.   They shouldn’t be.   Do not take the basics for granted.

A gentleman came up to the request truck today and said “you probably don’t still have my stuff  because it was January when I requested it, but I figured I’d ask anyways.”   Without a hesitation, Megan and Lisa dug into the mountain of requested items to see what the possibilities were.   At the bottom of a box, were the boots that the man requested a few months prior.   

Elated is too mild of a word for how this man felt.   I’ve seen people win on television game shows that weren’t this happy.   Seeing the worn out shoes on his feet, I can understand why.   Those of us that witnessed this couldn’t help but share in this feeling.   Everyone that was there shared in the joy.   His happiness spread like an unstoppable force.   

It felt like every ounce of work for the year was worth it, even if it was just getting this one man his boots.   As he walked away with the extra skip in his step, I started to run through my own thoughts.   I loved this feeling.  I wanted more of it.   “Where can I get this?   What do I need to do for this?    How did this happen?”   I started to boil it down to the root cause and how it lead to the end result.   As I added things up, I realize it was a very simple formula.   

Lesson two: You only need to exceed the expectation of one person to make a world of difference to many.   

     

When I start to reflect on the missions from this year, it leaves me with a vast quantity of emotions.   I feel accomplished, but that there is still so much more that needs done.   I feel educated, but that education has shown me a sample of how little I actually know.   I feel tired, but energized to do it again next season.   Most of all, I feel better.   I feel that I’m better than I was in November when the first mission of the year happened.  

I love sharing these lessons and hold the hope that they can help you.   In the same sense, learning is a process that is better through experience than teachings.   Get involved.   Get your children involved.   Make your community better.   Find ways to help.   If you need assistance in finding out what some of the needs are out there in the community, please contact me.   Through my experiences, I have come in contact with many groups and many organizations that can use your help.   I am more than happy to assist in finding someplace that can utilize your talents.   There is always some way that you can make a difference.   Some way that you can make this world better for someone...including yourself.   There are no reasons as to why you cannot help.   There are only excuses not to.   

Positively Chilling

It’s 9:00 on a Sunday morning as I pull my dad’s truck out of the garage and start down the road for another mission with the Akron Snow Angels.   Less than a mile down the road I look over at the readout in the truck that tells me it’s 8 degrees outside.   I’m in the truck, all bundled up in 4 layers of clothes including Carhartt overalls, and I’m cold.   It’s at this point when it dawns on me, “I don’t see how some of my friends live in this.”

I was the first to arrive at the facility where we meet and store all of the items that we have.   It’s not heated, but it does keep everything that we have dry.    As soon as I pushed the door open I felt a rush of disappointing, but not unexpected cold air.   Once again, the question of “how can they live in this?” circled around in my head.   

We had a few more volunteers than normal today which was nice.   We got everything loaded up and headed for Grace Park as per our usual routine.   With it being so cold out, the crowd that greeted us had fewer people.   To me, that’s a good thing.   It means that some of the shelters have opened their doors to a few more people in order to make sure that they can stay warm.   

We parked and I got to do my favorite job again.   I took requests today.   I still love doing this.   I love how it gives me a chance to hear from, learn about, and interact with so many people.   Some of them are more memorable than others, but today had one interaction that gave me a bit of a spark, and it’s what led me to figure out what the lesson was for today.

On the early December mission, I met a man and his wife.   He is a taller man with a booming voice, a firm handshake and a friendly demeanor.   She is quieter and prefers to be in the background, but is very pleasant.    They live in a tent, so their situation is obviously not ideal, but my perception of their situation tells me that it’s an amazing relationship.   

He is a man of pride.   He sees their situation, and wants to work to get both of them out of it.   He is working to move things forward.   He wants to provide for them.  He wants to protect her.   On the flip side of the equation, through thick and painfully very thin times, she supports him.   She has confidence in him.   They are in a tough spot and yet they are in it 100% together.   They help each other.   It’s very easy to bail when times get tough and say “I’ll do this on my own.”   With these two, they want to do it together.   They do what so many people don’t in making sure that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.    What’s amazing is that they are doing this in conditions that most people would give up in.   It’s a powerful thing to see.   

This mission, he came up to me and asked if he could get a set of Carhartt coveralls.   It was with great pride that he told me “I got a job!”   He told me where and what he’d be doing.   “I’ll be outside 9 hours a day and it’s not going to start getting warmer for a while yet.   I hope that on the first of the month, we can finally get a place.”   Hearing those words made my week.   

It was after this conversation with him that I noticed something about everyone that I had talked to that day.   When my house drops below 68 degrees, I think it’s cold, and although I don’t complain to the dog and cats, I probably would if they would listen.   These people are living in conditions where the temperature is 8….and they aren’t complaining.   People made a few small jokes about the cold, but no actual complaints.   No griping.   No “I hate this”.   

I’ve always somewhat avoided the “how’s it going?” question when on missions as I’ve always been afraid of making someone feel bad.   After some thoughts though, I wanted to see if my lesson was turning out to be what I thought it was.   I asked my friend Jared how he was doing.   “Good!” was his only reply.   I asked Jesse how he has been as I haven’t seen him for a while.  “Not too bad”.    I asked some of the people that came up to me for requests.  “Doing ok.”   “Great!”   “I’m alive and well.”   Not one had a negative answer.   

As I started to process all of these answers and why they have them, I realized that negativity is a sign of giving up.   If you give up in this situation, in these conditions, you’re dead.   In these sometimes dire situations, hope and a positive attitude may be the only things that you have.   

Today’s lesson: Even in a difficult situation, your outlook can mean the difference between survival or failure.   

Questions and answers

Whenever I go out with the Akron Snow Angels, there are a ton of positive things that come out of every mission.  You can’t help but feel good when you hand someone a few needed items.   You get varied reactions, but a high level of gratitude.   I’ve discovered that the gratitude isn’t necessarily because you gave them something tangible.   In many cases, it’s because you’ve given them one less thing to worry about.   In other cases, you’ve given someone the slightest bit of comfort in a very uncomfortable world.   It’s a powerful and wonderful feeling.   I suggest that you try it.   

A cart full of caring

Unfortunately, Saturday’s lesson came via a few pieces of news from within the community that were a bit disturbing.   As I write this, I’m not sure what percentage of angry, upset, and sad I’m feeling, but all of those emotions are currently stirring around at a rapid pace   

As we left for the day's mission, it was mentioned that there had been a fire and a few tents were lost to it.   This is tough to hear, but at that point, there is a certain amount of anonymity that allows a person to feel distant enough to stomach the news fairly easily.   As the day went on, there became two more bits of information that were discovered later that are much more difficult to digest.   

The first piece of news that we heard was that there is speculation that the tents being burned was an act of arson.   Other than someone intentionally setting the fire, there wasn’t another known source of ignition nearby.   Hearing that it was intentionally set, this is where my brain starts acting like a curious 4 year old’s and asking the “why” question over and over again.   Why would someone do this?   Why?   Just why?   Why could this have possibly seemed like a good idea to someone?   Personally, it’s the questions that I can’t find the answer to that I find are the most difficult to deal with.   “Why” happens to be one of them in this case.

News always carries more weight when it hits close.   Later in the day, we found out that the two people that lost their tents in the fire are well liked in the Akron Snow Angels group.   Friendly, chatty, and even a bit witty.   Each has a distinct personality of their own.   They are tough, but approachable.   Unique, but unassuming.   If you start a conversation with them, you’re going to end up with a good laugh.  If you get something for them, they both show their extreme gratitude in their own, unique way.   One with a handshake that could crush a rock and the most sincere thank you that you’ll find anywhere.   The other says “thanks” with a shy smile and a slight turn of his head.   You can tell he’s truly grateful, but he isn’t always quite sure how to handle it.   How is it that these two guys lost everything?   

It’s always tough to figure out what really happened.   I’m not a professional detective and much of what I have heard about the events leading up to this is speculation.   “Why” isn’t the right question for me to be asking.   It is tough to steer away from that as wanting to answer the big “why” question is a huge part of what makes us human.   It’s how we figure things out.   It is what we use to discover things.   It was later on when I realized that the more productive question that I need to be asking starts with “how”.    How can I help?

You can only get the best answer if you’re asking the right questions.  

The only way to learn

I think that Rudolph is getting an addition nickname besides just Rudy.   “The Mugger” seems fitting as we probably mugged people for 15-20 treats tonight.  This guy has done the math.  Sit = Treat.   So, we find someone else walking a dog in the park.   We get right in their face.   We look menacing….then sit and get all puppy faced.   This usually equates to the person saying something along the lines of “You’re such a good boy” and then a reach into the pocket produces a treat for Rudy.   As his accomplice, I just smile and agree with the person and then we head on down the path to find our next victim.   He has it down to a science.   One smooth operator…...and me.   I love it.

We started off walking with Zoey again.   We met some other dogs along the way.   Talked with other people.   After a while (and a few flat out sprints), I noticed that Rudy was going on his own a bit.   So, I went with it.   We walked together.   We stopped for a photo opportunity and kisses (I did not return them) in a picnic shelter.   We hung out.   We chatted (no surprise that I did most of the talking).   We didn’t just do mindless laps around a park.   We did stuff together.   When we got back at the end of the walk, we sat on the curb for a bit and just hung out.   It was awesome.   Just a couple of guys sittin’ around.      

I really wish that parts of my current situation were a bit different.   This is one great dog.   I often wonder how he and Irving would get along together and If I could run with them both.   The more time I spend, the more I like him.   The more I like him, the more difficult it becomes to leave at the end of the evening.   Part of this is because of the fact that Rudolph always has a way of pushing me to learn more.   I’ve walked with him 8 or 9 times and at this point, you’d think that as a younger dog, he’d be out of lessons for me.   He’s not.   He never fails to teach me something.

 

When I showed up, I had an agenda of walking around the park in mind with a cool dog and by thinking that, I forgot about how much this hour means to him every week.   It’s his time to get out and do things.   Think about the things that you want to do every week.   Imagine having to fit all of that into one hour.   Could you?    What if you only got one hour per week to get out and “play”.   It took a while for me to figure this out.   He wanted to do things and I needed to facilitate that.   I straightened up.   We made sure that we sniffed trees.   We ran.    We walked in totally random directions.   We had a great time.   

Listen.   That’s the only way to figure out what you need to do.