It was the first school dance during my freshman year at college. I didn’t have a date but decided to go anyway. It was fun for the first hour. I danced to all the fast dances, joked with my friends, and drank a lot of punch. As the time wore on, however, I noticed the couples dancing to all the slow dances and started to feel an ache and loneliness deep inside of me. After a while I walked out into the night air and sat down on the steps outside the building wondering if I would ever find love.

As I sat there I heard the click of nails on concrete. An old hound dog mix was walking up to me. He had a red collar on but no tag on it. I asked him who he belonged too but he just sat and looked at me with sad, sorrowful eyes. He looked so pitiful that I laughed in spite of myself and gently started to pet his head. After a while he gave me a happy, panting, doggy smile and we just sat together in the darkness enjoying each others company. Finally I told him that he’d better head home. He looked at me with understanding and started off down the street. I smiled as I watched him go then turned the other way and started walking towards my dormitory. And as I did I noticed that I felt a little less lonely and a little more loved.

I have learned a lot since that night over 40 years ago. I learned that love isn’t something you find, it is something you do. Love isn’t something you seek, it is something you share. I learned that God Loves each and every one of us and God’s greatest wish is for us to Love each other as well and join in the dance of life here.

And whenever I feel a little lonely in this life I remember that time when God sent me a four-legged friend to lift my loneliness and warm my heart. And I send a little “Thank You” up to Heaven for all of the furry angels in this world and the love they give us.