http://www.care2.com/greenliving/seeing-with-the-eyes-of-the-heart.html
Seeing With the Eyes of the Heart: A True Animal Story
Adapted from Animal Angels, by Stephanie Laland (Conari Press, 1998).
When Lana’s son knew he was dying of cancer, he bequeathed his German Shepherd, Grizzly, to his mother. And because Grizzly had helped him so much through his suffering, he told her, “Maybe there’ll be some way you and he can help other kids.”
Read how this loving animal helped to bring the grieving Lana back into life, how he was able to help sick children, and what the amazing secret was that he carried for years before anyone found out. Here is this inspiring true story:
When her son died, Lana felt her whole world collapse. She became too depressed to even go out of the house. But Grizzly knew she had to go on, so one day he brought her one of her running shoes and then rifled through the closet and brought her its mate. When she protested that she just couldn’t move yet, he pulled at her sleeve. She started going out into the fresh air again.
Lana began taking Grizzly to the pediatric floor of the Health Center where she did volunteer work. Perhaps because of the time he had spent caring for Lana’s son, Grizzly seemed to know just how to be gentle with sick children. The children loved him. For years he brightened their days and took their minds off the physical and emotional pain they were suffering. Even kids who fought with other kids calmed down around Grizzly.
One day it was discovered that Grizzly himself was handicapped. No one had known it, but he had been blind for years. When Lana asked how he could do such amazing healing work while blind, a friend replied, “He sees with his heart, not his eyes.”
Annie B.
Melissa
Jana
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Eric
Andrew
Dave
Robyn
Deepak
46 comments
add your comment »All the more reason to understand how much the poor animals in the pound and rescue organizations are grieving. They all want a family to love and be loved by. They feel lonely, afraid and sad when they are left in unfamiliar surroundings. Please make room in your home for a rescue dog or cat. They are literally dying for your love!
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what a touching story, to think that all those years the dog himself had a disability, but through his courage and determination he was able to make others forget their own discomfort. We should all take a lesson not just from Grizzly but from all of our animal companions, they have so much love to give unconditionally they ruly are God's own creatures. To Lana and all those who have sufferd a great loss trust your animals they know what you need and when you need it most.
To Lana, the greatest gift your sone gave you(aside from his love for you as his mom)was to give you Grizzly you now have a true frined for life who will take care of you and watch over you. My deepest sympathies at your tragic loss, it is hard for a parent to bury a child when they are supposed to outlive you not the other way around.
Let us all take a tremendous lesson from this touching and hearfelt story, just because they are animals and cannot "speak" they still "know."
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wow! such a promising story. you really don't know what you got till it's gone..
who would have thought he was blind..
people seem to ignore things around them especially when everything fails but its nice to know that there's always someone who lends a helping hand..
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My neighbor had a small dog, part Maltese I think. I always saw it through the garage fence, lying down with his best friend, a one-eyed cat. I always greeted them when passing by. One day I noticed I hadn't seen the dog and asked the lady owner about it. She said it had been hit by a car and died two weeks before. I felt so bad, then I remembered the cat and asked how he had taken his friend's loss. "The cat?" said the lady. "He left two or three days after the dog died. We haven't seen him since."
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Animals are a gift of God. We just need to learn to understand them, but they always understand us. My Dear sister died of bone cancer and her poodle Charly was her shadow during her last 5 years of pain. He is blind too but the love of that little dog is immense.
Thanks God for the very precious gift that are the animals.
Love, Harmony, Serenity, Peace to All.
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beautiful story.
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It's so beautiful to learn about the love between Grizzly and the children. Kids usually devote unconditional love to animals which are more than that from the adults. Life is short and expecially when the world is not acting as it was. We should love each other more, to the children and to the animals. May God bless Lana, her son & Angel.
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Grjzzly's story just brought tears to my eyes. It is truly amazing what dogs, cats, and other animals can do. It has been said that the smartest dogs can only develop mentally to be comparable to a 7 or 8 year old; perhaps they are actually smarter because they just use their hearts more than we supposedly more intelligent humans do. After all, who is constantly starting wars? I don't think it is the animals.
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it's amazing what are pets/friends can teach us. My dog Tarah fought her cancer for over a year. Towards the end she staggered, couldn't get up the few steps into the house so she slept outside. It was summer. My son gave her the 3 afghans he had made and one of my cats, Sam, stayed close to her. On the day I decided her pain and suffering had to end Sam licked her face and layed with her. Another of my cats, Angel, kissed her all over her face, sqaying goodbye. When I came home without her, (she was being cremated), Sam wouldn't come near me. That went on for about a month. Him and Angel really missed her. My other cats looked for her also. She is missed very much because she brought such joy to my family. God bless you Grizzly and Lana.
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On how I know!!! My beautiful German Shephard was starting to chase my car down a sloping hill as I pulled away on a icy drive to buy some much needed groceries..one winter day .I lightly hit poor Shep with the car as we both slid just enough on the ice..I was sobbing broken hearted ..and placed him in the car and drove directly to the Vet...Shep was more worried about me ! Seeing how upset I was and licked my hand ..looking me straight in the eyes all the way ..his injuries were only a bump but we were even more bonded together since then.....what a guy!!!!!He was totally worried about me much more than his pain.....
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