Emma and Maria
I have yet more to add to my slowly growing composition of stories from my veterinary career. The first, an amusing, slightly pun-intended glimpse comes from a rescue horse I saw yesterday. She was somewhat elderly and in terrible body condition but her rescuers were adamant and hopeful. They named her "Emma." Why you ask did they name her Emma?? Emma is short for emaciated. Terrible and terribly funny at the same time.
The freak rainstorms have pelted north Texas recently. There have been three in the month and a half I've been here. Each time I return home after a long day to pick up the cushions on my patio loveseat which have blown carelessly to the ground, right the taller plants which are tossed askew, and pick up any objects that have been so rudely displaced by the high winds. Although the storms are sudden and fierce, they are much needed as the north Texas dust blows and covers the dry land and the scorching heat chisels deep cracks in the earth lusting for any available moisture to nurture it's scant green covering. It seems everytime the welcome rain comes it's in the form of a veritable downpour. Yesterday I bled pigs - aka, smelled like pigs for the remainder of the day. I went out on horse calls for most of the afternoon, it poured on us, I missed a turn heading back to the clinic due to poor visibility, and ended up smelling like a wet pig. Less than desirable.
Today, I went out to float teeth and pull Coggins. It was muddy from yesterday's rain and I waded through the gooey surface, inches of it sticking to my boots and the bottom of my semi-rolled up jeans. We took shelter in a lean-to as the gulley washer presided and did our work to the rain pitter-pattering on a tin roof. And in the strangest of circumstances I got to work on a Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion team penning horse. How divine!
And now for the heartfelt, tear-jerking story of the day. A client was considering adoption about 5 years ago. She and her husband had talked of having their own children and one day she had a strong intuition that if they ever had a daughter, her name should be Maria. They were never able to conceive and started forward on the adoption path. After much time had passed the adoption agency told them there was a little boy and a little girl, both from Russia. They could not have them both since they were from different places. They had to decide between them without ever meeting them. There was a picture of the little boy, but the agency refused to sway them by letting them see it since there was not one available for the little girl. Both children were very poor and had been orphaned in the barest of conditions. The little girl's name was Мария in Russia. This translates to Maria.
They traveled to Russia and brought her back to Texas for a trial month. She spoke no English. She was very structured and wanted a list of the day's activities early each morning and her favorite thing to do was to go the market and smell all the fresh produce. What a wonderful story to remind us the mysterious ways in which God works and how many blessings we have!
The freak rainstorms have pelted north Texas recently. There have been three in the month and a half I've been here. Each time I return home after a long day to pick up the cushions on my patio loveseat which have blown carelessly to the ground, right the taller plants which are tossed askew, and pick up any objects that have been so rudely displaced by the high winds. Although the storms are sudden and fierce, they are much needed as the north Texas dust blows and covers the dry land and the scorching heat chisels deep cracks in the earth lusting for any available moisture to nurture it's scant green covering. It seems everytime the welcome rain comes it's in the form of a veritable downpour. Yesterday I bled pigs - aka, smelled like pigs for the remainder of the day. I went out on horse calls for most of the afternoon, it poured on us, I missed a turn heading back to the clinic due to poor visibility, and ended up smelling like a wet pig. Less than desirable.
Today, I went out to float teeth and pull Coggins. It was muddy from yesterday's rain and I waded through the gooey surface, inches of it sticking to my boots and the bottom of my semi-rolled up jeans. We took shelter in a lean-to as the gulley washer presided and did our work to the rain pitter-pattering on a tin roof. And in the strangest of circumstances I got to work on a Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion team penning horse. How divine!
And now for the heartfelt, tear-jerking story of the day. A client was considering adoption about 5 years ago. She and her husband had talked of having their own children and one day she had a strong intuition that if they ever had a daughter, her name should be Maria. They were never able to conceive and started forward on the adoption path. After much time had passed the adoption agency told them there was a little boy and a little girl, both from Russia. They could not have them both since they were from different places. They had to decide between them without ever meeting them. There was a picture of the little boy, but the agency refused to sway them by letting them see it since there was not one available for the little girl. Both children were very poor and had been orphaned in the barest of conditions. The little girl's name was Мария in Russia. This translates to Maria.
They traveled to Russia and brought her back to Texas for a trial month. She spoke no English. She was very structured and wanted a list of the day's activities early each morning and her favorite thing to do was to go the market and smell all the fresh produce. What a wonderful story to remind us the mysterious ways in which God works and how many blessings we have!
Comments
Post a Comment