Diamonds in the Rough

In high school didn't we all have a "BFF" or 2 or 12 if you were lucky?  Well, I'm way past my high school years but I still have a "BFF" and her name is Michelle.  I don't even really like to call her a friend because she's just so much more to me than a friend.  I like to call her my significant other other (since we are both married to our "others").   Without trying to age us, we have been friends for close to 20 years and she honestly becomes more of a treasure to me with every passing year. She is definitely a treasure, but she is no the diamond in the rough.  If she was a diamond though she would be the brightest the world has ever seen.  (This post is not about my friendship with Michelle...it's just hard to mention her name and not say a few words about how amazing she is)


Michelle and her husband have a love for animals, but dogs in particular.  They take the responsibility of owning a dog very seriously as any pet owner should.   If there was such a thing as reincarnation I'd want to come back as their dog!   A few years ago they decided it may be time to add to the family and began searching for the right dog to adopt.  They both fell in love with this goofy looking Brittany that was so goofy looking he was somehow cute.  The previous owner gave the dog rave reviews and soon "Ty" entered the family.  Their world was never the same again.  Ty was a bad dog.  He was naughty.  He barked and barked and barked and barked.  He jumped, he was hyper, he ate things, he destroyed things...he was bad.  Weeks after they adopted him Michelle would call me after getting home from work and tell me horror stories about the messes he would make and the crazy things he would eat.  Countless hours were spent in effort to properly train him and it just seemed like an impossible task.  He was stressing Michelle out to say the least.  This went on and on and on.  I  told her on a few occasions that I didn't think I would keep a dog like that.  I don't think I would have.  I think I would have taken him back to the pound.  Michelle and Greg didn't take him back to the pound.  That was not an option for them. They dealt with the frustration and kept doing the things that they knew the dog needed them to do and they continued to love him.   I did not love Ty.  He was making the life of someone I love very difficult and I didn't like that.  Fast forward a little....today I love Ty.  I truly do.  He is a sweet dog with a great little personality.  You would never know it was the same dog they adopted a while back.  Love is powerful for people...it's powerful for a dog too.  


There is a very humbling lesson in this for me.  I have always considered myself a loving and giving person, but I don't think I could have loved the way Michelle did.  Michelle got frustrated by Ty, there is no doubt about that, but she was able to see past the bad behavior to the amazing companion that she trusted was in there somewhere.  She understood that Ty was not getting what he needed previously.  He wasn't properly cared for, and he wasn't loved.  Michelle and Greg gave him the proper environment and he eventually thrived.


I'm working as an assistant in a day care center.  There is a little boy there that reminds me of Ty.  I hate to compare a boy to a dog, but certainly I don't mean it in a disrespectful way to this little boy.  I'll call him George.   George can be bad.  He doesn't listen, he can't sit still, can't keep his hands to himself, doesn't follow the rules, he makes a lot of strange noises...he's hard.  To be perfectly honest I didn't think he belonged in our program.  Our program is not designed for children with special needs, we are not trained to properly handle them, and I thought it took away from the other kids that were there.   I guess I was ready to send him back to the pound.   


It's a good thing I don't make the rules.  (that's good for several reasons by the way).   My boss, like Michelle, sees past the behavior to the little boy that is crying out for the things he needs but has not gotten.  (George was adopted too).  It can be pretty difficult to figure out exactly what those needs are and thankfully for George there are people unlike me that will take the painstaking time to discover what those needs are.   George is not a dog.  He is a precious little boy that God created for a divine purpose on this earth.  He has a soul and he has a heart that needs to be treated with the same care that every one of us desires and deserves because hearts are so fragile and are so easily be broken.  


This week I looked at George through different eyes.  I asked myself how I could help give this boy what he needs to thrive.  I don't know how much I have to offer George, but today after I had to put him in timeout I went over to where he was and I sat down next to him.  I talked to him softly and I rubbed his back and within 2 minutes he was laying in my lap.  I choked back tears.  They were tears of guilt, tears of thankfulness that my eyes had been opened, and tears of happiness that I did in fact have something George needed to thrive....Love.  You know what the really great thing is?  I didn't just give it....I got it right back.  I'll never look at George the same again.  He is not a problem child to be shoved under the rug, not by me or by anyone.  He is a boy that has some special needs and it will probably take some time and effort to get his needs met, but doesn't he deserve whatever effort it takes?  The answer is yes.  If we are really honest...aren't we all diamonds in the rough?  I thought I sparkled here and there...but I still need a lot of buffing for sure.  


So here I sit typing.  I'm humbled but really am truly thankful for the lessons I have learned and will continue to learn from fellow diamonds in the rough.