Lily is home
Within 5 hours of me sending my last ‘lily-message’ we got a phone call
from a woman called Jo living in Merick Park
‘I believe you have lost your jack russel – we have found one’
We checked that this was a brown-and-white female with a long tail
but we knew it was Lily when she asked
‘does she sit back on her haunches with her front legs held out straight’
Kate, Eli Bo and I drove over to get her
There is no way to describe the joy in seeing this little animal
who carries so much of our lives
Bringing her home to Max and Tony and Rory…
Max couldn’t stop kissing her
Only Lily knows what happened
she was covered in red soil that is found on Merick Park hill
she must have run across the vlei and got lost on the other side
she looked as if she has been sleeping outside
but she had either been fed or had scavenged food
her front paw is sprained – as if she has scratched her way out of somewhere
(Lily has been known to claw holes in doors if locked somewhere by mistake)
she is limping,
and the pads on her feet are tender as if she has been running on tar roads
she is exhausted and a little shaken – but she will be fine
she walked in on Jo and her family on Sunday afternoon
Jo phoned the vet on Monday – and she got our phone number
Today, as Lily and Max lie together
stretched out at the A-frame door
I wonder
about the power of prayer/ritual/connecting/good wishes/love
and when we do what we do with intention
is this what calls in the magic
On the weekend I spoke to a woman who had lost her dog
who she found again
and she asked me if I was calling Lily back – connecting with her
and I realized that this was something I was finding so difficult
as my imagination took me to the awful places she could be
I did the phoning and the poster sticking-up and the vet-visiting
and I had not really, therefore
been calling her home with clear intention
so I did
What was it that called Lily home?
was it people sending love and support from everywhere?
was it my and Tony’s mothers giving to St. Anthony an ‘ear-bashing’?
was it the Mwanzas praying on the vlei?
was it the presence of the other Jack Russell, Lily,
when they brought her into their circle on 11.11.11. at Hazelwood ?
was it Bev H holding thumbs?
was it the poster we left on trees and at vets?
was it Lily?
or was it all of these things working together with the same intention?
Above the window
a pair of sun birds search the branches for spider webs to build their nest
life goes on
Thank you all for listening so patiently
and my love – coming from a much deeper place
to those who have not found their loved ones