A ‘stranger angel’ rescues my dog. My wallet is left intact. This is home. | Opinion
I moved to Tallahassee in 1997 to go to Florida State University. If you had asked me yesterday why I’ve stayed in Tallahassee, I would have given you an answer like - my family lives all over the US so I don’t have a ‘hometown’ to go to, I’ve always been able to find a job or my son’s father lives here. It just seemed to make sense to stay in Tallahassee. Today, I have a much different answer to that question.
Sunday morning, my son and I walked to one of our favorite breakfast places to eat outside. As we were almost done, I looked down and saw our dog off his leash and headed towards Mahan Drive. I immediately called his name, to which he took off running in the opposite direction. This is common, as I’ve been told, for beagles their sense of smell drives them in whatever direction they please.
I begin sprinting down Mahan after our dog fearful he was going to get hit by a car. After what seemed like several minutes, I look up and see the dog sitting near Weems Road with a stranger. I catch up to them, and my son a moment behind me. Out of breath, I attempt to explain what happened. The stranger says “He’s fine, catch your breath. I was on my way to church and saw you running. He’s OK.”
I couldn’t respond partly because I was out of breath and partly because I was certain my son and I had been within seconds of witnessing our beloved dog being hit by a car.
Our stranger angel had seen us running down the road from the opposite direction, stopped in the median, crossed the road onto the sidewalk and our dog ran right to him. Our stranger angel had an extra dog leash in his truck, and then even drove us back to our breakfast spot where my plainly visible phone and wallet remained exactly where we’d left them.
My son and I sat at our breakfast spot catching our breath and reminiscing what had just happened. We were in shock and disbelief but also unable to process the kindness of our stranger angel. In addition, my phone and wallet were on the table untouched. My son also reminded me of another gentleman in a black truck who pulled up on the side of the road to say he made a U-turn to come help us when he saw us running.
There is so much negativity in the world, that it can be overwhelming.
Why have I stayed in Tallahassee for 25 years? My answer is easy now – the people. There are kind people all over the world, but today our stranger angel showed us that they live right here and are our neighbors. I am forever thankful to our stranger angel who showed my son that gentleman exists and rescued my dog Sunday morning and inadvertently rescued me.
Wendi Cannon is a two-time graduate of Florida State University who has lived in Tallahassee for 25 years. She is a graduate of Leadership Tallahassee, and Big Sister for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Big Bend. She is the chief information officer at Radiology Associates of Tallahassee.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee: A stranger rescued my dog, didn't steal my wallet
