Pound Pup Legacy

I've been feeling really stressed lately; this sort of work pays itself not with money, but exposure to more and more pain.  There's no relief from the sad stories I read, so I try to keep my mind focused on what I can do to help change the course of personal demise.

I take walks to de-stress myself. 

Today I was walking, amusing myself with the "Wanda goes wandering in thoughts and walking meandering".  I like to play the mental game of word-association, so I was thinking how clever my natural mother was for naming me Wanda Dawn.  Did she have any idea how lost I'd become, never able to sleep, always awake at dawn, waiting for the world to wake so I can find my escape?

I didn't think so, either.  I would like to think my name had a special family meaning, but that's a story I don't think I'll ever know.

I don't know what my adoptive parents were thinking, either, when they named me after a dairy cow, a large blue dog, a county or otherwise the gender-split name, Kerry.  They liked it; and clearly did not like Wanda Dawn, who ever she was they met her.  [Adults have the power to change what they do not like; a child does not.]

As I was walking and thinking, a pink balloon caught my attention.  At first I thought it was one of those "IT'S A GIRL!" baby-balloons, announcing the birth of a new family addition.  Instead it was a simple happy birthday balloon.  This house had pink balloons all over it's yard - in trees, on the fence, surrounding the mailbox... and I saw this little girl, dressed-up as dressy-pink and white could be... and she had in her hands, MORE pink balloons.  She was helping her parents decorate the house for her big-party celebration.  She looked my way, so I said "Happy Birthday!"

She smiled, and ran to the porch telling her mom, "A walker just said 'Happy Birthday' to me!"

I smiled that sad smile I get.... and kept walking... no longer thinking about anything else but the simple truth for many of us left-out pound-pups:  "not all named babies think a birthday is good reason to celebrate."