Sad day

It was a beautiful day out yesterday.  It was still morning when I headed out to the store. I hadn't gotten a mile down the road when a dog ran out in front of me.  I tried to stop and not hit it, but I couldn't.  As soon as I stopped, I threw it in park and ran out leaving the door open, dinging furiously at me.  The owner and I were both running frantically to the dog who was lying on the road.

 It was a beautiful German Shepard.  And he looked like he was hurting.  I was in shock, mortified that I had hit the dog.  I stayed with him while the woman went to call her husband. I looked at him lying there in the road. He looked like Jimmy, our dog who died a couple of years ago.  I think it made it even worse than it already was.  I was telling the dog to please be OK.  I am sorry!  The woman came back from calling her husband.  She thanked me for stopping.  Of course I would stop.  Who wouldn't stop?!?!  To me it was like hitting a child.

A neighbor across the street had come out to see if the dog was OK too.  She and I helped the woman to drag the dog gently out of the road.  The woman thanked me for helping and told me I could go.  I hesitated, because I didn't want to just leave her and the injured dog.  But she assured me it was OK and I slowly walked to my car.  I turned around and headed back to my house shaking and feeling numb..  As I drove past the woman and the dog, I stopped the car and asked the woman if she was sure I couldn't take them to the Animal Hospital.  She said her husband was on the way.  So I started to put my pedal on the gas and drive back home.

I was afraid to drive anywhere now.  I didn't want to go to the store.  I was very upset about hitting that poor dog.  I'm sure I looked a sight as Bob turned to me out by the camper parked right behind our house. I burst into tears and Bob came over and hugged me.  I told him what had happened.  Then I went inside and unable to sit down went out and washed the dishes.  After I had gotten myself calmed down I resolved that I would go see how the dog was doing in the next day our two.  I was afraid that it would be bad.

Later we headed in to the store with Bob driving and the kids in the back.  I was still hesitant about driving. I had calmed down, but I kept seeing that dog coming out into the road and trying to avoid hitting him.  Bob dropped me off at Walmart and the kids and I shopped for the items on our list while he went to take back brakes or something.  By the time Bob had gotten back we were almost finished.

As we were looking for something in the grocery section a couple of women asked me if I was the woman who had hit the dog on Albion Road.  I froze.  I waited to be called a terrible person.  I sort of recognized the one, but not the other.  She told me she just wanted to let me know the dog was going to be fine.  It was just a broken leg.  A sense of relief washed over me.  I thanked her for letting me know.  That I was so glad to hear the dog would be OK.

I know this story may be trivial to some.  It was just a dog, they would say.  But to me, it was not just a dog. I got upset when I hit a deer once.  Luckily he seemed OK as he darted off.  But I was shaking.  Animals are not just things.  And a dog or a cat....  they are a part of our lives.  To me it is like hitting a child.  I know how it felt when we lost Jimmy.  And I know  how I would feel if anything happened to our dog Zoey.