Not in the new book
If you’re a follower of this column then you know I wrote a children’s book about losing a pet and overcoming the grief. For those who don’t know the backstory I lost my puppy and writing about it helped me. When the story was finished I wanted to help others, especially children, so I found a publisher to help me bring it to life. The book goes on pre-sale this week and you can find it at the Troy Book Makers website or my Facebook page if you have any interest. As I’ve said before the goal was not to make money but make a difference so for every book sold a dollar will be donated to a local animal shelter. With that out of the way I’d like to share a few things that are not in the book.
The day my Samuel died was one of the worst days of my life. Having to call my wife and tell her he was gone was heart wrenching. Just thinking of that moment right now, many months removed, brings back a dull ache in my heart. What I didn’t know that day was within hours of telling the people on my Facebook page he was gone a woman in Virginia named Shanna was already trying to help me. She had followed my page for a while, enjoyed watching Samuel grow, and was heartbroken to hear he died. That evening she went through my Facebook page and looked at every photo I had ever posted of Samuel and chose one to paint. Shanna is a fabulous artist and she thought if she created a portrait of my puppy and sent it to me it might ease my broken heart.
After I had written the children’s book I realized I needed an illustrator. A couple of people had reached out to me offering help but they all charged large amounts of money for their work. I don’t blame them, who wants to work for free? Just when I thought the book wouldn’t happen for lack of an illustrator Shanna sent me an email introducing herself with the now completed portrait of Samuel. The moment I saw it I said out loud, “This is the cover of my book.” What Shanna couldn’t know was that of the hundred or so photos we had taken of Samuel in the six months we had him, that particular photo was my wife’s favorite because it was the only time she had taken him for a long walk in our neighborhood and he was so happy that day. So somehow Shanna, a woman I didn’t know, picked our favorite image of Samuel to paint. Strange coincidence don’t you think?
Then there is this. A few days after Samuel died another woman I didn’t know, named Ashley, reached out to offer us a new puppy. I told her our hearts were ripped out and we couldn’t imagine bringing a new dog into our home right then. She assured me she didn’t mean, “right now”; she meant a year from now. We agreed to talk in nine months but just 12 hours later Ashley received word from a family she had sold a puppy to that a child in that family was allergic to the dog so it needed a new home. She reached out again asking if we’d reconsider her offer because it felt like we were supposed to have this particular puppy.
As my wife and I discussed whether or not to take the dog I was sitting at a red light in Averill Park near Taborton road. I looked at the street sign and thought to myself this is where my old friend Norm Sebastian used to live. I never spoke his name out loud in the car; I just thought it and drove on. A few minutes later my wife turned and asked me if we took the new puppy how I felt about the name Sebastian?
I know some people don’t believe in angels or heaven or that there is anything beyond what we can see, taste, measure. But if there is an afterlife it sure felt like someone was moving the pieces around the chess board to make this children’s book happen and bring a new puppy into our lives. There are just too many coincidences and odd happenings for me to ignore it and chalk it all up to fate. I think sometimes those better angels above give fate a big fat shove and that’s when good things happen.
So to bring you up to speed; the book “God Needed a Puppy” is available in pre-sale today and you’ll see it in local bookstores this fall. Anyone who buys it now saves a buck on the price and gets my autograph which is worth at least twenty cents on the open market. Our puppy Sebastian is growing fast and truly a delight who helped heal our broken hearts. Not fully healed mind you but enough to make us smile again.
John Gray is a news anchor on WXXA-Fox TV 23 and ABC’S WTEN News Channel 10. His column is published every Wednesday. Email him at johngray@fox23news.com.