Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. I posted this in another thread but thought I could also post here so I can give people a quick update about my big guy Hank. I have more coming but I wanted to post this as soon as I was able to get longer computer time.
Christmas Day I went for my annual 10k run. I have Hank running with me now, well, he's up to about 7k and I trot the rest of the way with him. This is first time I have ever had anyone I love and trust run with me on Christmas Day.
We hit the trail and were about 4k in when I spotted a woman sitting with her back against the public bathroom wall. She was sitting on the cold concrete, the washrooms were closed of course but as I got closer I could see she was crying.
I tried to make eye contact with her but she didn't look so I thought to maybe give her privacy and we ran on. Something about her being there all alone bothered me so Hank and I circled back around until we were a few metres away from her.
I called to her and asked if she was ok. She still didn't look at me but she nodded her head. I said 'I am sorry, its a stupid question but it doesn't look like you're ok. Is there something I can do?'
I made a mental checklist of what I had brought...biscuits for Hank, a protein bar for me and two quarters for the phone in case.
But in the short few seconds this conversation was taking place, Hank was moving towards her until he had stretched his leash and was pulling a bit to get closer to her. As I was having Hank heel, she said, 'it's ok, I used to have a dog too when i was growing up.' I moved closer to her as there was no way Hank was not going over to her. She reached her arms up to Hank and as he approached her she buried her face in his neck. She made no sound at first but then I could see her shoulders shaking and I knew she was sobbing. Then came the sounds.
I moved over to where she was sitting and sat down beside her on the concrete and just sat beside her with my head back against the wall while she sobbed and hugged Hank.
I think we were there for a good 10 minutes before she was able to talk and brought her head up from Hank's ruff. He had laid down in front of her and he did not move once through the entire exchange.
Finally she apologized for wetting Hank's fur and we chatted really briefly for a few seconds about Christmas being hard and her not knowing what to do. Then she reached up and cupped Hank's muzzle and gave him a very gentle kiss on his nose. She called Hank her Christmas Angel. I asked again if there was anything I could do for her and she said that hugging Hank was the most perfect thing she could do and it was what she needed.
I said I would be running back the same way with Hank and if she needed another hug we would be there. We said our goodbyes and we continued on the run. On the way back I looked for her the rest of the trail but she had gone. I hope she is ok.
This is Hank's act of kindness. He healed a portion of me with what he did.
