The Old Man And The Dog
Growing up I lived in a small town. Big enough that not everybody is perfectly informed about your life but small enough that you do recognise most of the people in the streets. Basically, when you look out your window you will see people you've at least seen before.
One of those people always passing by was an old man. He always had two dogs with him walking them around the town. One of the dogs was beige, the other one black. As time went by the dogs lost some of their colour, the beige was not as bright anymore, and the black was slowly mixing with some grey. And the man also got older.
Years went by and one day I saw him walking only the black dog. Holding the leash in one hand and putting his weight on the cane in the other. When I saw him passing by with the beige dog on a different day, I understood that he probably was too afraid to walk both of the dogs at the same time while not having a secure stand on his legs.
Years later I still saw him passing by with the cane and one dog at a time. When one day he just stood there. I wondered what happened and watched him starring at the greyish looking, former black dog. The dog sniffed slowly but not very interested. The old man waved at him, smile, and said: "Come on, let's go!" in a very gentle and happy voice. The dog just stood there.
The two of them kind of had this type of dialogue for around a minute or two. I assumed that the dog didn't want to walk anymore. The dog seemed to be tired. Then, the most beautiful act of kindness happend:
The man took the cane and leaned it to the wall next to him. He slowly slided one foot next to the other in mini steps that I'd rather describe as slides than as actual steps. He moved next to the dog, bowed down slowly, petted the dog, comforted the dog, and took the dog on his arm. He then picked up the cane and balanced it on his other arm with both hands and one arm holding the dog tight like the most precious thing in life.
I watched him with tears in my eyes sliding his feet on the ground towards home, radiating so much love, care, and warmth.
