“Serving overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!”
—Matt
Don’t invite Dogs to Father’s Day
I am not sure if it is advisable, but we brought our dog from Indiana with us overseas. I contacted the airlines ahead of time about the dog and cage size, and they told us it was no problem. When we got to the Fort Wayne, Indiana Airport, it was a problem. The flight to Chicago was on a small plane and the cargo door was too small. How did the problem get solved? They took her out of the cage, took the cage apart, fit the cage through the cargo door, reassembled the cage and put the dog in. I am sure the ground staff was not happy in Chicago, when they realized what they had to do to unload the dog cage.
She was a tall skinny dog and several months old when she made the move overseas with us. She was with our family during many of those special moments of life and work in those first years. I know some people don’t like dogs. Others love dogs and say things like “I’m most human when I’m with a dog,” which sounds a bit corny. I think dogs can be an effective tool to lower my blood pressure and calm my nerves when they are not stressing me out.
We had our first son not too long after we arrived and I didn’t have to wait too many months for my first foreign Father’s Day celebration. I learned that each country has a different date for celebrating Father’s Day. I initially thought this was great and I could milk it for all it was worth and get two Father’s Days a year. After a few years of this, my wife who carried the load to organize it, said, “Just pick one!”
On my first Father’s Day, I was given a free cake from a local bakery shop, where I was friends with the owner. For some reason that I can’t remember, we had left the chocolate cake on the dining room table while we were out of the room. Our dog’s reach easily spanned the table’s height and she ate a significant amount of the cake before we caught her. Yes, having my first Father’s Day cake ruined by a dog was bad, but I knew the worst was to come. The dog spent the rest of my first Father’s Day getting sick.
Many years later that gentle long-legged dog passed away. We got another dog, and she is a short-legged dog that can’t reach tables tops.
Something similar ever happen to you? Contact me and let me hear your story! Matt’s Mishaps, PO BOX 114, Grabill, IN 46741
