You Know…

by John Flores

You know, growing up I had this pre-conceived notion on how my life was supposed to go. You go to kindergarten, grade school, high school, college, meet the girl of your dreams, start a family and live happily ever after. I was on such a good path until I graduated high school. I enrolled in college but I just took a bunch of classes I could care less about hoping I would just “figure it out”….never happened. I think I just went so I wouldn’t disappoint my parents. I ended up quitting college and just working.

I was always fortunate enough to have good jobs that paid the bills. I’ve dated a ton of girls but have never been really good at the whole relationship thing. I’ve never had a problem making friends so I think my social life made up for my lack of commitment in many areas of my life. Then I got that damn 6^th concussion and slowly but surely the “social life” became too much to handle. With my main smokescreen gone, I was left to think about my life and boy was it a downer. Mid 30’s, no kids, brain injury, no wife…not even a girlfriend. And then Penny Lane came along…then Elvis.

And as I venture into this new chapter of my life I know there’s some people just waiting to see how long this “animal rescue thing” is gonna last with me. To be honest, I don’t blame them. I’ve never given anyone reason to believe otherwise. But on that note, I had no smokescreen to cover things up this time. All I had to offer anyone or anything was my friendship. And for Penny and Elvis, that’s more than enough. Well, that and food. Either way, I think that’s a pretty fair tradeoff!

I do not believe in coincidences. I don’t believe in chance meetings. Nothing that has happened or is happening in my life right now is an accident. And it’s taken me all of 37 years to start to “figure it out”. And I’m still figuring it out as I write this. I just don’t have a bottle of Jameson to cloud my judgment.

I’ve always believed that God has a plan for everyone. Some people are put on this earth to save the environment, teach kids, save animals and the list goes on and on! Some people may never do any of that but everyone impacts this world in some way, shape or form. And I truly believe I’m exactly where I need to be and I’m not going anywhere. I know I’ve said this before but Penny and Elvis saved my life. And the only way I can repay them for that is to be the voice of not just the bully breeds but the “bullied breeds” and save their brothers and sisters for as long as I’m on this earth. Penny and Elvis have shown me the art of following things through and reminded me of holding myself accountable for my actions, good and bad. I can’t turn back the clock on my life from the choices I’ve made before but I still have plenty of time to change it! Before them, I was smoking at least a pack of cigarettes a day and damn near drinking a bottle of Jameson most nights at some random bar. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure I had a blast but how much fun could something be when you can’t remember most of those nights?

And maybe my life hasn’t panned out exactly how I thought it would but I do have a family of my own. They’re Penny Lane and Elvis. I’ve surrounded myself with people that support what I do, some old and some new. I may not have gotten that degree but I’ve found myself educating people and my parents are as proud of me as they ever could be these days. In a way, my “kids” have somehow managed to get me back into school; it’s just that I’m on the educating side of it! Who knows maybe I’ll even finally meet the woman of my dreams but that’s somewhere in the near or distant future. And if there’s one thing these dogs have taught me is that I cannot ruin the beauty of today by dwelling in yesterday or worrying about tomorrow.

I have found a safe haven in Priceless Pets and I will be forever grateful to them for that. Most of them may not know this (well, they will now. Lol) but they accepted me in their organization during a pretty hard time in my life and I will never have the words to thank them for that so I will just show them for as long as they let me.

Thank you Priceless Pets, Penny and Elvis not just for what you do, but for what you do for me!

John Flores

Recommended Posts

Through No Fault of Their Own Part V

September 12, 2017

A Letter To The Men of Pawsitive Change at Corcoran State Prison

September 06, 2017

No Fault of Their Own Part IV

August 22, 2017