It sometimes truly amazes me what strangers will do for others, and even for animals. Maverick, a beautiful and lovable golden retriever, was rescue from a kill shelter in North Carolina about eight years ago. And Joey Maxwell and his wife, of DeLand, Florida, were thrilled with the new addition to their family. And Maverick loved his owners, and pretty much everyone else. He was just incredibly friendly to everyone.
But that beautiful lovable dog, after eight years, had lymphoma. Doctors initially thought chemo treatments did the trick, but it came back, and in full force. And now, Joey and his wife found themselves in a crisis situation. It got so bad that he spent a few days and nights in the intensive care unit at the animal hospital. But Maverick was getting to be too far gone, so they told Joey he should take the dog home and spend as much time with him as he can. Because he wasn’t going to last much longer.
Well, Joey was heartbroken. He loved that dog. And that dog sure loved Joey. So Joey took Maverick home, but there was no way he was just gonna sit around with him and watch him die. THEY were gonna DO something… if only for one day. Because Maverick loved to be loved on, Joey decided to take him to the local town center, where passersby could pet him and show their appreciation of such a good dog.
But Maverick was too weak now to walk on his own. He could hardly even stand. Joey and his wife went to Lowe’s to get a wagon cart to pull Joey around in. They found one… it was perfect! And the price on it was $130. It’s about all that Joey had in his bank account after paying for Maverick’s hospital care, but it was worth it… for his dog. That particular Lowe’s, however, was out of those wagons. As Joey was about halfway through telling the store’s general manager the story about Maverick and why they needed that perfect wagon, the manager abruptly stopped him. He took his phone out of his pocket and immediately started calling other stores in the area to see if they had that wagon, saying he needed that wagon and he needed it RIGHT NOW. And, after a few calls, he found one.
He asked Joey if he could come back in an hour and that wagon would be waiting for him there at the store. When Joey, his wife, and Maverick returned to the store an hour later, employees had already taken the wagon out of the box and assembled it. It was ready to go. That was a real nice surprise. So Joey put Maverick in the wagon and pulled him up to the cashier to pay for it. But Joey was about to get Another big surprise. That manager, a stranger to Joey and his wife, had cut the price down, charging Joey only half of what the wagon was being sold for. Well, Joey just broke down and started crying… hadn’t even told anyone about his financial issues. And then, the cashier broke down as well.
After a few minutes, the sad couple left that store and pulled Maverick into the town center. And there, several people, young and old, stopped by to pet the dying animal, to love on him… and to let him know what a good dog he truly is.
