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I was on my way to fill up with gas at 10:15pm last night knowing that I wouldn’t have time this morning to do so when I witnessed a sad event.  As I was on Elk Grove Blvd. heading towards I-5 a dog darted across the road and was hit by the van that was in front of me and in the lane closest to the right side of the road.  To spare the details, it was hit in such a way that I didn’t expect it to survive.  The van pulled over, and I along with it just to make sure the driver was okay and to check on the dog.  It was instinct, when someone or something gets hurt… you stop!  The lady got out of her car and we walked back to where the dog was.  Only… there was another woman already there; the owner!  We came to find out that she (the owner) is a homeless woman that was simply walking her dog before they bedded down for the evening over next to the freeway.  We walked up and she was pulling the dog off the road onto the grass, clutching it’s body and trying to revive the poor creature.  We asked if we could do anything but she was in alot of shock.  We called the Elk Grove Police and an officer responded a few minutes later to check on the scene.  He took a look at the dog, felt for a pulse and then made a call into Animal Control to send their van.  Meanwhile, I went to the Arco AM/PM and bought the owner a few things to eat and something to drink.  She looked like she was a little low on funds and so I figured that when she got hungry it could help.

When I arrived back on the scene, animal control had just pulled up.  The other officer talked to the owner for a few minutes and then the owner carried her one and only friend to the truck, and that walk seemed like it took forever.  She had this look of pain on her face and could not stop crying, but she kept much of it inside, trying to keep her dignity.  They closed up the truck and that was that.  The first officer asked if he could do anything for her, maybe help get her to a hotel for the night so she could have a comfortable place to stay.  She declined stating she didn’t have enough money but simply requested a ride back to the freeway to where she was staying.  The officer agreed and she began to gather her things.  At this point the animal control van pulls away and the driver who hit the dog, and I start walking towards our vehicles.  The owner turns around and walks back and says something that touched my heart.  “I know it wasn’t your fault, I had just let him off the leash for a moment so he could do his buisness.  I feel guilty, it’s all my fault.”  To that I responded… “Ma’am, no it isn’t.  You were taking care of him, you loved him and he knew it.  And he loved you, he still loves you!”  She thought for a moment… “Thank you both for stopping!  I had another dog a few months back that was hit by a car, they almost hit me, and they didn’t bother to stop.  Thank you for your kindness and for stopping, it means alot to me!”

I couldn’t help but tear up at that point.  This poor woman just lost her most beloved friend and companion, her only source of comfort.  Yet she took a moment to recognize a good hearted deed, she didn’t complain, and she was very forgiving.  She may be homeless, but she isn’t bitter because of her circumstance.

May the lord bless her and comfort her in this time of loss.  She, of all people, did not deserve the trial of this evening.