Monday, April 06, 2009

Foster Dog No More

Sammy has dug under our fence to spend the day with our dogs for over a year now. We have jokingly called her our foster dog, since she has spent the night in our house since Christmas. I had just walked into the house yesterday after an afternoon at my daughter's house, when the phone rang. Hi, this is Ron - we need to talk about the dog. My heart sank. He sounded angry and I figured he was going to want his dog back. I couldn't have been more wrong.

He was calling to see if we wanted to adopt Sammy. They are walking away from their house - his salary with the State of Nevada has been reduced yet again and they just cannot afford to stay here. He explained their plans and I applaud him for shepherding his family to an livable solution. Many men would walk at this point. He loves it out here and I know how much this is costing him emotionally. He was relieved that we wanted to take his dog. This is the second time in one week that I've had to put a face to this recession.

Last Friday we went to a little gathering - one of my DS Josh's friends Jerrry has had a turn of fortune. His company, which grinds lenses for our eye glasses, has determined that to stay economincally competitive, they have to relocate their U.S. plants to Indonesia. They're retained Jerry to asssist in the transition, and when it is done in November, he gets to look for a new job. Sobering.

8 comments:

MiniKat said...

So glad Sammy gets to stay with you! I truly hope her former family can regain a stable footing soon.

~~Sittin.n.Spinnin said...

Yay Sammy! You've found an awesome home!!!

Lee said...

Wow, that's intense. I heard a similar story last night on my way home, but the man had to take his dogs to the Humane Society. It was heartbreaking. It must be at least a small relief to Ron, knowing that Sammy has a home and will be well loved. We are living in some sorrowful times.

Valerie said...

Sad to say, I know what you mean about this economic downturn having a face. We've seen a lot of that over the past couple years. Maybe Sammy's "fostering" was no coincidence...
I'm glad for Sammy, and I hope that his 'family of origin' gets to have a similar soft landing.

Mim said...

Is this like her "birthday" to be reborn to a new home and her brand new pull rope. Ian knew she was staying! Happy Birthday Sammy!!

Michelle said...

Intense, yes. While Rick's business has certainly slowed to a snail's pace, we are thankful he is self-employed right now! If things got desperate we could lay off his secretary and have me fill that void along with everything else I do, but at least we have options. Of course, we have never financially extended ourselves like the typical American family, either. We have a mortgage; that's it for debt. We have a daylight basement we could finish to rent out, or move parents into. Time will tell what needs to be done....

bspinner said...

You have extremely admirable neighbors!!! My heart goes out to them and I hope they find a nice place to call home because Sammy sure has.

Robin said...

Very sad for the family and so glad you can take Sammy.