Sometimes exactly what you need comes from the most unlikely source.
Milton Lowe, who lives just outside Cleveland, Mississippi, has had a rough time of it lately. His wife had just beaten cancer when he was diagnosed himself and was forced to undergo chemotherapy treatments in Memphis. While he was away on one of those trips, Bo, his German shepherd who’d been at his side for the last 12 years, crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
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Milton wanted to give Bo a proper burial but didn’t have the right tools, so he stopped by the Ace Hardware store in Cleveland. As 19-year-old employee Sam Coleman-Dancer led him to the back of the store, Milton told him about the incredibly strong bond he and Bo had shared and how much joy simple things like playing fetch or going for walks had brought both of them.
“He said his dog had always been there for him. They were very connected,”Sam later recalled. “He was very emotional, and it touched me.â€
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But on another level, he was concerned: It was hot outside, and digging a grave isn’t easy. So Sam surprised Milton with an offer. If Milton could hold off until he got off work, Sam told him, he’d be happy to come over and help out.
I thought of my grandfather who has been a little under the weather and I thought that if it was my grandfather and I was not there to help him out, somebody offering to help would be amazing. So more on an emotional level, where I felt that it was my duty to help Mr. Milton Lowe.
And that’s how a compassionate young man came to dig the grave of a complete stranger’s beloved canine companion.
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Milton, of course, offered to pay his new friend for his time, but Sam declined, instead asking for a token photo of the two of them. That photo, he said, is “something I’ll cherish forever.â€
Share to spread thanks to Sam for his sweet gesture and to encourage more acts of compassion.
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