To Baxter’s Pep Squad: Baxter’s Many Gifts
Last Spring our foster-turned forever dog Baxter successfully underwent his heartworm treatment. By summer, however he developed a serious skin condition; he was so itchy that he scratched his belly raw. Not wanting to put him on medications I kept changing his diet and that meant frequent trips to the pet store called Phydeaux, located in Chapel Hill.
One day I was driving into their parking lot a few minutes before closing time, when I noticed another Nissan Leaf. There was plenty of parking space, but I was determined to squeeze my Bluebell between the other Leaf and the bushes framing the edge of the parking lot. Never miss out on the rare opportunity of having two Leaf’s parking side by side!
I stepped out of my car still beaming from the delight of discovering yet another electric car. I looked up and noticed a gentleman and a child standing on the sidewalk.
“Yes, we love our car, too,” smiled the gentleman at me.
“Oh, it’s your car!” I exclaimed surprised.
“I so much would like to have a chat with you, but the store is closing in a few minutes,” I added as I backed into the entrance of Phydeaux.
When I left the store, the man was just walking the girl toward the car. We started to talk, sharing our Leaf experiences. After he strapped his daughter into the car seat and sat in his car we kept talking through his rolled-down window. At some point he gave me his business card and mentioned that he is the president of the Triangle Vegetarian Society. I could not believe my ears. I told him that we are vegetarians, too. He said it was too bad we did not meet earlier that day. He and his daughter just left the restaurant next door, after trying out their new vegetarian menu for free. But he said that I should look into attending the Society’s vegan Thanksgiving Feast, the biggest one in the US, held in Downtown Durham on Thanksgiving Day.
Out of the blue, something made me ask if he knew Dr. Gil, my doctor of Eastern Medicine.
“Oh, Dr. Gil, he is our friend,” answered the gentleman, with a broad smile spreading on his face.
“Oh, holy…no way that you know him!” I exclaimed, the apologized profusely for by outburst.
“I first met him at the American Dance Festival performance,” he started to explain, “Dr. Gil seemed to be lost, and I helped him out. Since then he has become our friend, and has also treated some family members.”
“Well, I don’t have a business card to give you, but I have a copy of my memoir, and I wrote about my experience with Dr. Gil,” I offered a copy of my book, which he graciously accepted.
“Hope to see you at Thanksgiving!” he said and glided away silently in his white Leaf.
It turned out Baxter was allergic to pollen, and wiping him off with a damp rag each time he visited the outdoors helped greatly. And after the cool weather settled over North Carolina, his skin healed completely.
Baxter has brought so many wonderful people, all these great new opportunities and so much love into our lives! When we adopted him, I thought we were only getting a four-legged companion for the girls. I should have known better, the ones before Baxter also brought much joy and surprises, including the greatest of all: the gift of writing.
