To: L_Morrison@gmail.com
From: M_Monahan@yahoo.com
Subject: THANK YOU
Dear Ms. Morrison,
How can I express my thanks and gratitude for your very precious gift? I don't know any other way than to simply say, “Thank you! From the very bottom of my heart.” Bentley is very important to me and the hardest thing I've ever done in my life was to take him to that shelter.
Only, a wonderful woman, well two wonderful women, stepped in and made it such that I wouldn't lose my best pal. I would very much appreciate if you would send pictures. Most of my friends are also here, so we will not be exchanging pictures. There is nothing here any of us would want to capture on film, anyway. Just sand and heat. And there's no water anywhere near the sand, so it's not the fun kind.
Please, send pictures. I don't even mind if you send pictures of all 800 of your relatives. I like pictures. Especially with captions.
As to your question of whether I've been thanked for my service, yes, actually I have. When one wears a United States of America military uniform, especially since the September 11th attacks, there is much respect and gratitude given to us. The American people aren't as likely to take their freedom and safety for granted now, and they are far more appreciative of those of us who serve our country. But I thank you for your contribution. Wholeheartedly. (is that a word?)
Thank you so much for taking Bentley for me. Words can't express my thanks. I know I already said that, but you've lifted a great burden from my shoulders and I'm very grateful to you.
Yours,
Sincerely,
Capt. Mitch Monahan
P.S. Bentley will tackle anyone who has root beer, so you might want to be careful about that.
P.S.S. Thank you!
*****
Lainy finished reading the e-mail from Bentley's dad and smiled as she took in yet another thank you. Sending the first e-mail hadn’t been as bad as she’d thought. That was good. Looking down at the faithful friend lying silently at her feet she said, “I think your dad misses you, buddy.”
Bentley raised his head and tapped his tail a few times before slumping back onto the floor. Lainy smiled and patted him for the effort, which elicited her a few more tail taps.
She clicked through her pictures file and selected a few she thought Mitch Monahan might like. There were a couple of shots of Bentley that looked like he was laughing, and she wanted to send them. There was also one where his whole face seemed to droop, and he looked sad and lonely. She had already captioned it, “Miss you, Dad.” She had every intention of sending that one, too.
With a few clicks of the mouse, she zipped the pictures and then attached them. In the end she only sent two, since she didn't know how much memory his computer had. Lainy figured he'd probably be able to use a military computer, but somehow believed he used his own.
After attaching the pictures, she began hitting keys, trying to remember everything she had attempted to store in her brain to tell him. Bentley did so many funny things, and she wanted to remember them all so she could tell Mitchel.
To: m_monahan@yahoo.com
From: l_morrison@gmail.com
Subject: Bentley, the squirrel chaser
Attachments
Dear Captain Monahan,
Did you know Bentley has this thing about chasing squirrels? My yard is now squirrel free. Bentley takes squirrel chasing very seriously and I believe is contemplating securing the neighbors’ yards as well. (Which is okay because they're all related to me anyhow.) He has also taken an intense dislike to my Great-Aunt Tilly's cat. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm doubtful even my aunt likes this cat, and definitely no one else does. And we're all animal lovers. Perhaps more on The Terror, which is his name because he's obnoxious, later. Just let it be known that the Terror no longer comes calling at my house, and I have Bentley to thank.
My family has a vacation planned for this weekend. A bunch of us own several cabins (well, 800 people dictates this, of course, but fortunately, only about 30-60 people show at a time) along a lake near here and we all go up during the summer. Does Bentley swim? Being a Marine rather than a Navy dog, I wasn't certain, and if he doesn't I probably need to know this in advance.
That way when we get thrown into the lake, (and trust me, we will! - HEY does Bentley bite?! This could be good, VERY good! Brothers are awful....) I need to know whether I'll have to bail a sodden dog out of the lake along with myself. I'm telling you, brothers are wicked and none of us four girls escape their demonic teasing. One of my sisters, Dory, was pregnant last year, and still ended up in the lake. They were gentle about it, but she got the requisite dunking. And of course, her useless husband thought it was funny. (He's useless because he threw me in last year, first thing. I had barely arrived and in I went, glasses, purse, and all. Man I hope Bentley bites!) ☺
Well, we're both yawning. Bentley keeps us on a tight schedule. There are squirrels out there, you know. We have thus avoided the root beer thing, but I bought a case of the stuff to take to the lake with us. I'm so handing root beer out when the boys are near the water! (Hee hee!)
Goodnight.
Bentley sent some of his favorite pictures, hope you enjoy them.
Lainy M.
Still chuckling over her root beer comment, Mitch clicked on her attachments and opened a picture of Bentley. His dog looked awfully sad, droopy-like, and his heart clenched when he read the caption. Miss you, Dad. Smiling at the caption and the picture together, Mitch sent up yet another thankful prayer for this woman who had unselfishly opened her home to his dog. And who was willing to share his only family member’s life with him.
The next picture showed Bentley looking just like he remembered his pet. Happy and goofy, and like he smiled at the camera, or maybe the person behind the camera. The caption on this one read, Got root beer?
Laughing out loud, Mitch hit the command to print the pictures. So he only had regular paper, and not photo paper. These were better than what he currently had. Which was nothing. He caught himself caressing his dog on paper and stopped but as he stared down at Bentley, he was very, very grateful for a selfless, unknown woman far away.