“A Dog’s Purpose”

My mom went to the movies with a friend today.  I stayed at home with dad.  She came home after a few hours, sat down and told me all about the movie she had just seen.  It was titled, “A Dog’s Purpose”.

Now I know what a dog’s purpose is, but I guess some people don’t.  Maybe they don’t have dogs in their lives to help them learn about our purpose.  That’s kind of sad, because we have a lot to teach.  Sometimes it’s tough to get it out and be understood by people.  I think that may be because they are not truly open to communicating with us.  After all there are some people who will say, “Oh, it’s just a dog.”  I don’t go around saying, “Oh, it’s just a person.”  I try to talk to everyone.  I like talking to people and I like when they talk to me.

Anyway, mom said the movie was about Bailey, a dog who had a young boy (Ethan) as a best friend.  Ethan and Bailey did just about everything together.  One thing they really liked to do was play together and Ethan taught Bailey a special trick with an old deflated football.  Well, Ethan grew up and Bailey got a little older.  After Ethan went away to college Bailey was feeling really sad, and old.  One day, Ethan’s mom, and his grandparents, realized that Bailey wasn’t doing very well and took him to the Vet.  Grandpa called Ethan who came home to be with Bailey as he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Mom started crying when she was telling me that part.  But then she talked about Bailey, and how he seemed to come back again, as a puppy.  He was different, but still knew who he was.  He also remembered Ethan and wondered how he was ever going to find him again.  Well, Bailey went through a few more lives.  Each time he found someone who really needed him and he helped them through some pretty tough times.

I told mom, that’s what we do.  Dogs love helping people through tough times because we know how much fun they can be when they are happy again.  It’s like when mom is sad.  This happens now when I’m not feeling well, mostly after my treatments.  Mom sits with me, pets me, brushes me, and tells me that she loves me.  It’s these times when I feel her sadness, and all I want to do is to make her feel happy again.  I look at her and ‘tell’ her that I love her very much and that she needn’t worry so much about me, that I’ll be just fine.  I ‘tell’ her that we’ll get through these tough times, together.

Well, back to the movie – SPOLIER ALERT – if you haven’t seen it, and you plan on seeing it in the future, you may want to stop reading about now.  I’m going to talk about the ending.

Bailey ends up, once again coming back and, unfortunately left to roam the streets by a not-too-nice person.  He ends up in the same area where he and Ethan spent their summers, Ethan’s grandparents farm.  Bailey recognizes some familiar smells and, of course, follows his nose.

He finds Ethan, who is much older, but does not recognize Bailey.  It’s OK because Ethan keeps this new dog (which is really Bailey) in his home.  Finally, there is an opportunity for Bailey to show this much older Ethan that special trick he learned as a pup, when Ethan was a young boy.  It finally clicks with Ethan, that standing in front of him is his Bailey, or as we find out very early in the film, his Bailey, Bailey, Bailey, Bailey, Bailey – or his Boss Dog.  It was a really happy ending, after Bailey traveled those many years, and many miles, to find Ethan again.

I hope it was a true story because I’d like to be able do the same and travel wherever I have to, and as long as I have to, so I can find my mom again.  I know that would make her happy.  It would certainly make me happy.