Cowboy

As I was paging through a magazine one day when I stumbled upon an article about an autistic boy called Will. Will could not tolerate the close presence of strangers and obviously, he could not speak to them either. His skin being extremely sensitive to the touch of water, his mom had great difficulty washing his hair. In short, it was not easy to keep house with Will or move around in town with him without making a scene in the presence of other people.

Will went to school but he was a lonely figure, unable to communicate with his classmates. He simply was unable to open up to love and attention from others.

Then something happened. Will got a dog which he called Cowboy. She was a retriever and from the first day they met, they were the best of friends.

One day when Will took a bath, Cowboy managed to enter the bathroom and jumped into the water. True to the nature of a retriever, Cowboy had the time of her life, diving in and out of the water, leaving Will covered with soap and completely wet from top to bottom. For the first time Will’s mom heard her son cry out in laughter like she never heard before.

Cowboy changed the life of this little boy immensely.

Unfortunately, one day Cowboy fell ill, seriously ill and she died. Will was in school when that happened and when his mom picked him up, he knew. He asked her, “Cowboy is dead, isn’t she?” When his mom confirmed, he dropped his case and ran to the car.

Later that day Will and his mom gathered all Cowboy’s toys and stuff and put them into a box. Then they sat close to each other on the carpet next to the box and for the first time she saw her son cry like never before.

Here I was, a grown man, crying my eyes out too. Then the question popped up in my mind, “Why am I crying?”

The reason is obvious. I love kids and I love dogs but I realise, most of all it is because I love God and He loves us. He loves us so much that He provided animals for our welfare and need and care. Animals that love and touch us in a special way and where humans are unable to reach.

They say, “Cowboys don’t cry.” Cowboy, the dog, never cried, because she had her best friend at her side and everything she could ask for.

I am so glad I am not a cowboy and can cry as much as I want to. Oh, how I love God!