Facebook reminded me that eight years ago we celebrated Herbie’s “Rebirth Day.”

Not knowing his real birthday, we decided to celebrate the day he was saved from the high kill shelter by a local rescue group and “reborn” into a (hopefully) better life.

This silly, scruffy boy is my heart so when I was asked (years ago) to write a little something about him to support the rescue we got him from, I happily obliged.

This is what I had to say then and how I still feel now……

   There are teachers among us with lessons for us to learn.

They do not all preach from a podium, or write assignments on a chalkboard. They come to us when we are ready, and teach us by their example. They speak in a universal language and bare the messages of all great teachers from the beginning of time. They teach of compassion, and forgiveness, of patience, and second chances, of new beginnings and fresh starts, of living in the moment and not allowing our past to define who we become.

They teach us to love without the fear of loss; to do it with our whole hearts with no second thoughts… no regrets. They teach us how delicate the balance of life is and to seek joy in every small thing.

From them we learn that happiness is not found in expensive things but in the time spent in the “now,” being fully connected and present to the moment. They teach us not to judge one another by what is on the outside, but to look deeper and learn to see with our hearts; to look beyond ourselves and feel a connection with another being…not quite the same as us… yet not so very different. 
 
My teacher’s name is Herbie.

He did not come from an Ivy League University but from the school of hard knocks-a kennel on the wrong side of the tracks. Herbie was on the kill list at an Arizona shelter when AZ RESCUE intervened and Herbie was given his new beginning.

I was volunteering with RESCUE and Herbie (then known as Gabriel) was my first assignment. He came bounding out of the kennel (like the feisty little car we eventually named him after) a delightful study in contradictions: sturdy and agile, smooth coat, wiry mohawk, big ears, little legs and a tail that lies somewhere in the middle.

Being made up of contradictions myself, I saw a bit of myself in him. And while I have not always embraced being different, to see these traits reflected back to me in the mirror of this wondrous creature I could do nothing but smile. To me, he was perfect. The minute I saw his smiling face and felt his and joyful energy I was smitten.

It wasn’t long before my husband, teenage son and Lonnie Cat invited him to join our family. We are entertained and educated by him on a daily basis.

People say it was wonderful of us to give him a second chance. I say we are his second chance and he is ours. He is a chance for us to be open to the lessons he has to share with us. This is an opportunity for us to take these teachings to heart and to grow and evolve.

They say that the teacher will appear when the student is ready to learn, you just have to remember look down and remember that not all teachers wear valedictorian cords, some wear collars of a different kind…