Toshiro's Story
How Toshiro Came into My Life.

By Nancy

Toshiro Comes Home: 6/10/02

 
I would like to make an announcement concerning a very special event in my life. I have just today brought into my home a beautiful dog named Toshiro. He is almost 4 yrs old, and is a wonderful example of the way Spirit works for people. I first met this gentle dog in Oct, 2000, when I stayed at his owner's place in exchange for service. From the first moment we set eyes on each other, Toshiro and I connected. In the next few days I realized that he was filled with the Spirit of my most recent dog who had passed on just a few months before Toshiro was born.

I was lead to find the beautiful woman who had taken him in to her heart and home as a wee pup, and had nursed him back to health and vitality after he experienced almost total paralysis from a fall from the addition she had built onto the top of her reconditioned bus. Through her love, abilities as a healer, and gut-determination, she restored him to almost normal function. The only semblance of the trauma was a cute gait involving the hind legs from the mending of the broken bones and spinal injury. This woman served him through Spirit so beautifully.

Through the short weeks I stayed there, Toshiro checked on me every morning when he was released to make his morning rounds. When he heard me stirring, he waited for my greeting, then went on his way to his other duties. He loved lying under the bus in the shade, just as my beloved Lobo, my last dog had when he and I lived in my motor home for two years. He danced the same little dance, when he was delightedly excited, that Lobo had; there were so many little habits and instances of behavior that matched so perfectly. How could I not love this wonderful dog that was so unexpectedly in my life? He had his own wonderful ways that so truly spoke of the love and sweetness that lived within.

From the size, which was just a bit smaller than the expected of an Irish setter, golden retriever, collie mix, to the mix of border collie, aussie, and blue healer that resulted in a coat of almost the exact same color and style. How could I not know that this was a destiny to which I was lead, as surely as I live with God in all that I do?

I left that place to go on to other experiences; I never forgot that special bond with the dog who remained in my heart. One day, months later, I was offered Toshiro, as the situation in this woman's life was changing so as to not enable her to continue to care for Toshiro as she wanted. I was not in a situation then that accommodated a dog, and the opportunity passed. As luck would have it, conditions improved at Toshiro's home, and he was able to stay in the loving environment.

In the meantime, I settled into a home and a life that suited having a dog. I began to long for a dog; I would yearn after the sight of a dog that reminded me of the two dogs who were so dear to my heart. Finally, after my landlady changed her mind and said, yes I could have a dog, I began to explore my desire for one. Was it an old desire, based on a lifetime of dogs as companions, or was it a true desire of the moment I live in now? I asked God to open my understanding, and help me to see the clarity. I surrendered the issue to God, and knew that I was at peace with the outcome.

Within about a week, I received the phone call that lead to this message. Would I like to take Toshiro; for the woman who nurtured him for almost four years is undergoing changes in her life that tell her she must lighten her load? Can you say that Spirit does not work miracles? This is a dog; a creature of God. He has been sent to be an angel for many people.

Look around you at the animals in your world, whether they be of your household, or another's. Look into their eyes, and see the beautiful message they hold. There is unconditional love. Is it any wonder that children and animals have that unspoken language that say's, I love you for who you are, no matter what? You can't get any better than that!

Love to you all,

Nancy and Toshiro