I was walking my border collie on our local green belt on a late September Indian Summer afternoon. Many people were out enjoying the warm weather before the cold fall days that would soon come. I passed a couple with two young daughters who were holding a leashed shelty puppy (a miniature collie originally from the shetland islands). The little girls were letting the puppy run with his leash dragging; they would both run down the path; he would follow, bouncing to a stop with a doggie smile on his face. It was an extremely cute scene, the kind children's books are made from.

I watched for a while, then continued on with my dog. I soon came to a white-haired old lady walking slowly with the aid of a tripod. I spontaneously stopped and chatted with her, pointing out the little girls and their puppy.

A minute or so later, just before I crossed our river on the old bridge, I looked back up the trail.

The family had turned back and the two girls were holding their puppy and talking to the old lady with the tripod. They then handed their puppy to her. From where I stood I could see the the big smile on the white hair old lady's face as she held the little happy ball of fur in her arms.

This small scene that lasted only two minutes or so had set in my memory as one of the happy, positive events I have witnessed.

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