What's to loose?

Today I am trying to deal with loss, the loss of a beautiful sole.
It all started when I met someone at a local store. I was walking past a crowd and there he was. He looked really familiar so I said “Hi”. He greeted me in kind and we began to have a conversation. We walked away from the large group so we could become more acquainted. I introduced him to my wife and daughter. He greeted them cordially and proceeded to include them in our conversation. We all agreed that we enjoyed the meeting and the conversation. As we rejoined the crowd our new friend began talking with someone else so we quietly took our cue and walked on. While we were shopping my daughter commented how nice our new friend was and mentioned that he was homeless. “Really? –I guess that could be, but with all those people around I was sure he must have somewhere to stay.”
My wife and I chatted casually about friends we have had that crashed at our place and about how important it is to have a place to call home. My daughter chimed in that we had room to spare and that we could surely help this guy out with a few meals and a bed. I explained how it wasn’t safe to invite a total stranger to stay with you. I explained that it’s one thing to bring home some young friends, folks that you know from the neighborhood, or whose parents you have met and been around. But a total stranger is different. Who knows what he’s done or might do? “Daddy, we all agreed we like him, he’s nice and polite, and it’s the right thing to do.” My daughter replied. So after shopping we went to find our new friend. Sure enough there he was sitting against the wall outside. He looked tiered and stressed. He looked like he had been putting on a smile for too long and now his eyes and his demeanor didn’t fit his pretend happiness when people spoke to him. So I invited him to come home with us. He wasn’t really sure, and he seemed as though he was a little frightened. As we were talking this woman comes over and explains that she has been keeping an eye on him for the last month or so and out of the blue- she starts giving us some background about this guy. She makes him out to be a saint and a scholar and assures us that we were very kind hearted and that we would rewarded with his friendship forever.
So here I am today, dealing with the loss of a shoe. This new dog is challenging and needs to be trained to follow our rules. So I have been patient and loving in my orientation. I understand that in his old home he was allowed on the furniture, maybe even the bed. I understand that in his old home he surely had a different schedule and that he may have had different demands placed on him. I am sure that in his old home he was fed scraps of food in the kitchen and at the table. As I teach my new friend how to be part of my family he is teaching me how to be his friend. To really understand what my family and I must do to make this transition comfortable for all of us we have to put ourselves in this guys place. For him it’s all very confusing and frightening and I’m sure at times he feels like everything is spinning out of control. So as I look for the shoe that I’m pretty sure has gone out in the yard via the doggie door, I keep in mind that every time we meet someone new we have an opportunity to develop a friendship. And a friendship takes time and work. A friendship is one of the most rewarding relationships we can have so long as we realize that it takes the two of us to reach a mutual understanding. We must understand that we will fight –without words, we will do the wrong thing, we will act the wrong way and even embarrass each other. But every time we make a new friend we find a new part of our soul. A part of our soul we never knew we had lost. A beautiful soul.

Have you lost a shoe recently? Are you sure… maybe you should look for one anyway.