Grace And Bonnie

Grace And Bonnie

When Grace turned twelve her parents offer her, as part of a Birthday Present, to take her to the local Animal Shelter to adopt a Dog or Cat, then reminded her that a live animal is nota toy but a living thing that required being care for, being giving water and food daily and she would be responsible and she agreed, telling them she would rather adopt a Dog. At the shelter Grace watched closely the younger Dogs and noticed many of them tried to get her attention. But there was one Dog who didn’t seem to like too much attention. Grace was the same way. She made very good grades in school and showed advanced skills on a piano. But, at least to her, too much attention, deserved or not, seemed to embarrass her. During the adoption process she told her parents she decided to call her Bonnie, telling them it was the first name she could think of at the time.

As timid or shy as Bonnie seemed to be, she was kind, friendly and loving to those she liked and trusted, including Grace’s neighborhood friends and classmates when they came to visit Grace. And as usual, she learned soon enough when Grace started taking Bonnie on walks around the neighborhood that she acted the same way when they saw neighborhood friends that Bonnie recognized and she was friendly with then. But seeing a stranger on the sidewalk made Bonnie uncomfortable at first.

After Grace mentioned this to her Mother she suggested Grace could leave Bonnie in the chain link fenced in front yard while she was in school so Bonnie could watch the people walking down their street and this might help Bonnie get used to strangers, including anyone from garbage collectors to postal carries to visitors to people in the neighborhood. And Grace’s Mother was right.