Rescuing Sprite by Mark R. Levin

Author:Mark R. Levin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2007-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

My old friend Eric came to my house to help me with my computer. I don’t know what it is about computers and me, but I have the worst luck with them. I had just purchased a new computer, which died within a week. I was having problems with the new replacement. Eric is a bit of a computer whiz, and he was lending me a hand.

Eric and I live within a few miles of each other. He had seen Sprite many times since the day we first brought him home. He has also known Pepsi since he was a puppy. When Eric came to the house this time, he was shocked at Sprite’s appearance. I could hear it in his voice. He loved my dogs. Even so, he tried to lift my spirits. No one outside my immediate family can read my mental and physical state by looking at my eyes better than Eric. He knew I was upset.

Eric and I have experienced much together. I’ve known him since fifth grade. When we were growing up in Cheltenham Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, we would go to 76ers games, take the train into the city and spend hours at Independence Hall in Philadelphia (we both love American history), and work in political campaigns. When I was nineteen years old, I ran for the local school board with the help of Eric and my family. We knocked on thousands of doors. And I actually won!

Eric’s mother was stricken with emphysema when he was only fifteen years old. She had been a chain-smoker for many years. She raised Eric by herself and he was her only child. Eric had to grow up fast when his mom got sick. I watched how he helped lovingly care for his mom, including fighting the bureaucracy to get her the medical equipment and treatment she needed. His mom struggled with that awful disease for several years. In her last year, she spent many days in the hospital.

One night, as I was visiting them at the hospital, she nearly died. I’ll never forget it. The doctors and nurses had surrounded her bed and were working feverishly to revive her. They succeeded, but she passed away a few days later. Eric was only twenty-one. I remember his mom once thanked me for accepting him into our family. But it is I who am thankful for Eric. And I know his mom would be thrilled that we work together as colleagues each day in the same office.

Today Eric has three dogs. The eldest, Afton, is fifteen years old. He’s also beginning to show his age. As Eric looked at Sprite, and then spoke to him and held him, I could see his genuine concern for Sprite. And I knew, as with Sean, he had to be thinking about his Afton and coping with his final days.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.