I share Scooby even though he never asked to be shared. He’s private like that. But I love him so much that I want others to get to feel his love too. And I’m pretty sure he’s ok with that.

To meet him, to be in his presence, well, you’d understand. He just brings the LOVE every single chance he can. It runs through his entire body. He bubbles with it. And if you miss it the first time, rest assured that he’ll be back with LOVE: Round 2 a moment later. You just can’t escape the Scoobs.

The photos I share are almost always from my iPhone. It’s an old one, the camera is messed up, some of the functions don’t work. But even when the photos are blurred, Scooby is still perfect to me. And he makes me better. Truly he does. Maybe it sounds goofy, I don’t care. I just love him to the moon and back, again and again and again.

But it’s the way others love him too that sometimes catches me off-guard. Those are the moments that make me wonder who he really is. Like this one.

We were in the park. We stopped to enjoy a sunny moment on the grass. A Mom sat down nearby with her young daughter. Maybe three years old, not sure. Scooby had just completed one of his upside-down rollarounds, scratching his back with gusto for all to see. And this little girl just cracked up. She lifted herself up and scrambled the 15 or so feet to where we were, her Mom was quickly behind her.

And there she stood. Just gazing at Scooby. Scooby gazing back. She sat down and began petting him. She didn’t ask his name. She didn’t need to know. No words. Just pets. First on the head. Then the neck. The back. He rolled over and she continued with his tumtum. This little girl gave pets like a pro. Her Mom watched. I watched. And then I commented on what a lucky dog they must have at home to get this kind of love.

But they didn’t. The Mom said they had no dog, never had. And this was the first time she had seen her daughter pet a dog. My jaw dropped as I watched this little munchkin sweetly caress Scooby’s chin. He had melted completely. The girl continued. How did she know? How did he know? How did these two connect this way, in this moment?

And as the Mom and I watched, this sweet tiny tot began to tell Scooby a story. I could not understand all of the words. But he did. Mesmerized, he listened.

She had no treats for him. He was not glued to her for food. It was just her. He knew she was a good one. That maybe she’s the one that will change the world. The one that will save all the Scooby’s.

The whole thing lasted a few minutes. Other than her words, it was silent. The girl finished her story. She got up to head back to her picnic. Scooby lay motionless. His face flat to the side, his lower jowl so relaxed it completely dropped to the grass below. His tongue hung out sideways. He was smiling.

With eyes half shut, he watched her leave.

Before they were more than a step or two away her Mom asked her what she was saying to “that dog.” The girl said “that wasn’t a dog, that was my friend.”

The Mom turned; we looked at each other with the same expression. The girl danced away.

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” – The Little Prince

Sit. Stay. Eat. Live. Moments With Friends. thepongofund.org