Someone had abandoned a beagle at the gate to our farm. People from the city frequently abandoned a cat or dog along our country road. Maybe they had pets they no longer wanted or couldn't take care of or maybe they were moving away and were hoping some farmer would adopt their pet. We had an "Old McDonald's Farm." We had horses and cows and sheep and goats and chickens and ducks and several stray dogs and a half-dozen abandoned cats.
When someone abandoned a very pregnant beagle at our farm, we took her in, fed her, and waited for her puppies to arrive. She had six puppies, and as soon as they were weaned, I put them into a box and drove to town where I hoped to find homes for them. I sat the box in the parking lot next to the bank and put a sign on the box: FREE ADORABLE PUPPIES.
People walked by and smiled. Some pet the puppies. But no one wanted them.
"You're not doing it right, Mom," my son Aaron said. "People walk by and see six wiggly, yapping puppies. You have to make people think they are saving a puppy. You can't appeal to their brain . . . you have to tug at their heart."
Aaron came back a few minutes later with a small box and a sign that said, "FIVE CUTE PUPPIES and one Ugly Puppy . . . FREE TO A GOOD HOME."
Aaron chose a puppy at random and put him in the "ugly puppy" box. The next man who walked by picked up the puppy in the "Ugly Puppy" box.
"What's wrong with this puppy?" he asked.
"Nothing," Aaron said. "He just isn't as cute as the other puppies."
"He looks OK to me," the man said. He took the puppy and walked away.
Aaron picked up another puppy and put it in the "Ugly Puppy" box. Within minutes a woman and a little girl stopped and looked at the puppies. The little girl picked the "ugly" puppy.
"You're not ugly! You're cute!" and the girl walked away with a puppy.
"People aren't looking for a dog," Aaron said, "They are looking for the feeling you get when you do something kind; you have to touch their hearts."
People kept taking the "Ugly Puppy," and soon people had carried away five of the puppies. We had one puppy left. Aaron placed him in the "Ugly Puppy" box and a teen-age boy picked him up.
"Today is my brother's tenth birthday, I don't have a present to give him, but if I take home a puppy he'll be thrilled out of his mind."
We wished his brother a Happy Birthday, and I gave him a couple of dollars for dog food.
It had seemed impossible to find homes for six spotted, yapping puppies in twenty minutes, but Aaron had done it. We not only found homes for six puppies, we'd made six people happy.
When Aaron grew up, he became a successful realtor. He says he doesn't sell houses; he finds homes for happy families. Last year, he was the fifth top realtor in the state and won an award. I think it all started with "One Ugly Puppy."
My daughter, Storm, is beautiful and very small. I doubt that she weighs 105 pounds. She was having lunch in a café, and a man at the next table began to choke. He was a large man, over six feet tall, and weighed at least 250 pounds. He collapsed to the floor. Everyone was watching him choke, but no one was doing anything.
Storm propped him up and began the Heimlich maneuver, even though she could barely get her arms around him. Someone called 911, but before the EMTs arrived, Storm was able to force the ham sandwich out of his throat, and he could breathe. He was middle-aged, married, a father of four, and Storm saved his life.
I have an old wooden spoon hanging in my kitchen on which someone carved over a hundred years ago: "Do small things with great love" into the handle. I bought the spoon in an antique store years ago. I don't know how old it is, or who carved it, but for over 50 years it has hung in my kitchen, reminding me to do small things with great love. A cake doesn't taste right unless I stir the batter with that spoon.
My daughter saved the life of a man who was a husband, father, friend, uncle, brother. My son doesn't "sell houses," he finds perfect homes for families.
Most of us have jobs, some of us love our jobs, some of us hate our jobs, but we need to remember to do those jobs "with great love."
Crying Wind is the author of Crying Wind, My Searching Heart, When the Stars Danced, Thunder in Our Hearts, Lightning In Our Veins and Stars in the Desert. You can order your copy by contacting us at
Intertribal Life Ministries (IntertribalLife.org).
