{"id":14171,"date":"2020-10-21T00:52:25","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T06:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=14171"},"modified":"2020-10-21T00:52:25","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T06:52:25","slug":"a-happy-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/21\/a-happy-surprise\/","title":{"rendered":"A Happy Surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JoEllen Collins<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
JoEllen Collins\u2014a longtime resident of the Wood River Valley\u2014is a teacher, writer, fabric artist, choir member and unabashedly proud grandma known as \u201cBibi Jo.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a time of fear and trepidation, some things still give us hope for the future and joy in the present.\u00a0Certainly, big events can help: a baby\u2019s birth, a wedding that, though smaller than planned, reminds us of the possibilities for love, or the spirit we see in many instances of people helping others. I certainly have learned to appreciate the friends and acquaintances I can contact, the efforts of others who help me laugh and retain a sense of humor, and the obvious, the meaning of family. I am blessed.<\/p>\n

A couple of weekends ago something\u00a0occurred\u00a0that might seem slight, a happy surprise that not only made my day but increased my appreciation of the good in human nature.<\/p>\n

I took my two small dogs, Cleo and Suki, to the wonderful dog park at Warm Springs Ranch. It is a reason for gratitude, a doggy paradise. On a beautiful fall Sunday, there was the usual abundance of doggies and dog-friendly people, and,\u00a0 <\/span>as often occurs, I engaged in a conversation with a couple of locals accompanying a friendly dog. Cleo hardly ever leaves my side; we can be walking sans leash in a place like this park (otherwise they are leashed), and I look ahead, not seeing her, start to call, and there she is, just behind my legs. So, when my new friends left, I expected to find her close to me. After 20 panicked minutes, I moved to other parts of the lawn along with Suki.\u00a0Two young boys stopped me and asked me what name I was shouting.\u00a0We started talking, and after a few minutes they left. I went on to other parts, still calling and whistling. After about 10 minutes I saw the boys far away by the entrance to the park, running toward me with Cleo on a leash and big smiles on their faces. They found her sitting by my car in the lot, asked someone if they could borrow a leash, and brought her to me,<\/p>\n

Any dog owner must know the relief I felt and my instinct to hug them (though I didn\u2019t, as that\u2019s inappropriate even without the pandemic). I told them that they were my new heroes but reminded them that even though I look like a safe grandma, they should always be careful around strangers. I managed to learn their ages and names. Both Hemingway School students, they exemplify the hope for positivity that is manifested right among us. Friendly, honest, good 8-year-old citizens, they are why I love to work with kids. They asked no reward (although I did, days later, get them each a very modest thank-you toy), returned the leash, and said they hoped they\u2019d see me (plus my grandchildren) soon.<\/p>\n

I was buoyed for much more time than the incident may have warranted, but even two weeks later, I smile when I think of their efforts, their open souls, and their desire to help.\u00a0What a gift I received!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JoEllen Collins In a time of fear and trepidation, some things still give us hope for the future and joy in the present.\u00a0Certainly, big events can help: a baby\u2019s birth, a wedding that, though smaller than planned, reminds us of the possibilities for love, or the spirit we see in many instances of people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7944,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-on-lifes-terms"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}