I Bought Food for a Poor Old Man and His Dog – What I Saw at My Door the Next Morning Left Me Frozen

Last week, I felt Bean kick extra hard when we pulled into the grocery store parking lot. I swear this kid knows we’re somewhere special.

I still see Gray sometimes. He shops at Greenfield on the first Tuesday of every month, always with Pippin, and always dressed like the man I first met. But now when I see him, he gives me a little wave and that smile that says we share a secret.

An elderly man and his dog walking on the road | Source: Unsplash

I’m due any day now. The nursery is ready, the car seat is installed, and I’ve got enough supplies to last through Bean’s first birthday. But more than that, I’ve got something I didn’t have before Gray and Pippin walked into my life: HOPE.

And the absolute certainty that when Bean gets old enough to understand, I’ll tell him about the day his mama met a man and his little dog who taught us both what love really looks like.

“Thank you, Gray,” I whisper every time I buckle myself into that Subaru. “Thank you, Marietta. And thank you, Pippin, for wearing that red bandana and turning my whole world upside down.”