“Another bad day,” I thought to myself as I drug my frail body out of bed on a gloomy Sunday morning. I had had nothing but bad days for the past five years ever since I had contracted giardia – a type of parasite that invaded my body and robbed me of my physical, emotional, and mental well being. Not being able to tolerate antibiodics in order to treat the illness, I had to let it run its course, which took several weeks. There were also other complications which caused me to be stricken with horrible fatigue and frazzled nerves, even after the parasite had gone away. I had been dealing with these debilitating symptoms ever since. I was getting better, but it was at a snail’s pace and some days I had a hard time keeping the faith.
Such was this morning. I slowly moved around the house, trying to gain some energy, but had no luck at all in doing so. Finally, I gave up, sank down in the recliner in the den and began to sob. “Dear God,” I cried. “Here I am as usual, begging for strength and comfort. Can you help me out again today?”
Suddenly, as if on cue, Kokomo, our chocolate brown miniature poodle, came charging into the room from nowhere it seemed. He ran over to where I was sitting and leapt up in my lap. He stood up on his hind legs, put his paws around my neck and began licking my eyes! He was frantic, as if he were afraid that something terrible was wrong with me. Back and forth, from one eye to the other, he continued drying my tears.
Finally realizing that he had no intention of stopping, I pried his little paws from around my neck. “I’m OK, Kokomo,” I reassured him. “I’m just having a bad day. But, thanks to you, I now feel better! Thank you, Kokomo!”
Then, I said another big thanks to the one who I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt had, indeed, quickly answered my prayer. God had comforted me through Kokomo. After all, as the old saying goes that all dog owners love to use, “DOG is GOD spelled backwards.” That was certainly the case for me that day, and it was just what I needed.
In memory of our beloved Kokomo
