“Why does God accidentally invent BAD STUFF?”

…A question posed to me, innocently enough, about a week or so ago, by my 5 year old daughter.  WHY?. . . Why did she ask me a question that on the surface seems so innocent and benign. Because my child is an ABSOLUTE FLIPPIN’ GENIUS!

. . . That’s why. I’ve been known to trade in my “Verbal Pugilistic Skills”, from time to time, when called upon to do so. The need to do so usually comes at the most unexpected of times and at the most inopportune moments. When “the call” comes down I am required to trade in my “dunce cap”

(complete with propeller, colorful fringe, etc.), in for my “thinking cap”. I really shouldn’t have been too awfully surprised by my “wunderkind”, for asking a question, I myself have been asking since I was a child. However, I seem to remember asking myself this about such things as mosquitoes, math homework and Hitler. My daughter’s dilemma was realized by the sudden and unexpected passing of my family’s puppy, from a disease known as “Parvo”. When I opened up the VERY imaginary “Dr. Dano” office on this site a few weeks back (a portion of the site “sorely lacking” in patient referrals) my only request was that you please not include any questions regarding your children or pets. I stated that I would respectfully have to defer your inquiries regarding these two subjects as “out of my scope” of expertise. Of course, being “my lot in life”, we were blind-sided in our personal lives by the sudden illness and subsequent death of a VERY beloved pet.

Out of respect for my wife and kids, I will not discuss the actual events surrounding the illness that took his little life, except to say that it was brutal to witness. We did our best to save him and he is dearly missed.

Instead, I wanted to take this opportunity to explore the question that my very astute and otherwise BRILLIANT daughter asked me to address. But in order to do it justice, I think I need to explore what was at the HEART of the question. . . and I REALLY had to ponder this one. . .

Namely, why does “our family” – a church-going (not JUST on Holidays), tax-paying (except for that week in March, when we get our tax refund and live like “REAL” people) God-fearing (he scares the CRAP out of us) and otherwise all around “normal” (“living” well below the poverty-level) family – ALWAYS seem to get “Royally SCREWED”? Not only that (as if that wasn’t enough) But why do we get “screwed”, while it seems that there is a large segment of the World’s Population that seem to be “Pure EVIL” and go about their days and nights unscathed, unaffected and “Happy as a Clam”? If it were just “Me”, it might be different. However, for the past 7 years of my life I have been a “Family Man”. When it came to my family, I got a little “torked off” when the string of luck (or lack thereof) that I was having when I met them, seemed to have a bit of a “Trickle-Down Effect”. . . This latest “event” in our lives just seemed to be the “Icing on the Cake”. My wife had brought home the puppy 5 months ago. . . It was a welcome addition to the family: full of life, funny, loving. Just like so many families across this country, we have struggled over the last couple of years, just to “make it” in this economy. Sometimes we haven’t known how we were going to make it. But you know what? That little dog didn’t care. (and not in the way that YOU don’t) He didn’t even KNOW what was going on around him half the time, but he knew that he had a “family”. . . a family that loved him. . . a family that “needed” him. Whatever difficulties we were facing, we had a “little friend” there to look up at us with his funny little face, his cute little brown eyes dancing with delight. . . and proceed to take a dump on our living room carpet, as if to say, “Hey, you think YOU’VE got problems?”. . . But that was okay. . . because his eyes had been “dancing”.

. . . The puppy was a welcomed respite from the “everyday”. He depended on us. . . but made no demands, Or at least if he did, had a really “cute” way of doing it. Like if he needed to go outside (to take care of some business) rather than “bother” us, he would simply eat the corner off of our couch. It was his little way of saying, “Hey guys, if you weren’t so wrapped up in what’s going on in your pathetic little world, you’d see that I could have just saved you a couple hundred dollars on a new upholstery job”. His form of communication, though costly, was highly-effective. Moreover, he let us know that it was okay to “have fun”. His exuberance and zest for life, caused us to adopt a similar policy in our own. . . When the bills started piling up, stress started to build or it seemed like we couldn’t “catch a break” to save our lives. . . I found a “sense of perspective” in the dog. . . he seemed to simplify things.

You may be saying to yourself, “That’s a lot of importance to be placed on an animal”. About 6 months ago, I might have agreed with you. I have never been one to openly “gush” over a pet. By no means did I “gush” over this dog, either. But, when I watched my wife or kids with the puppy, I could see how one animal could make a difference in the lives of a family. He represented “hope” and “fun” in our lives with his boundless energy and curiosity of new things. . . He was a puppy,yes. . . but he was a lot more. My daughters had all sorts of dress-up activities planned in his future. They had planned on having a photographer do a shoot. They were certain that this puppy was bound for “Bigger and Better” things. It was certainly a “Star on the Rise”. . . He’s been gone for nearly 3 weeks now.

In my adult life (again, probably the last 7 years) I can count the number of times I’ve cried on 2 hands. I am uncertain why, I just don’t cry as freely as I used to. However, when we lost the pup, the floodgates were opened. I cried like a baby. For a really long time. I couldn’t save him. I felt as helpless as he was. Looking back, I can see that when we lost him, a wave of emotions came over me that I was unprepared for. It wasn’t just the loss of the dog. It was the loss of what he represented. It was also the loss of people (Friends and Family) that I had lost over the years. . . In a word. . . It was “Death”. Being a person of “faith”, I have never actually been fearful of death or dying. In fact, as some of you know, I have dealt with my share of it over the past 3 years. In actuality, it has been a part of my life since I was very young. I come from a pretty large, extended family, so it seems as if someone was always “checking out”. I don’t think I ever became jaded to it. I just think I’ve always realized that Death is a part of Life. But this. . . this brought it “home” for my kids. How do you explain that something so innocent and loving, could be happy and running around one day and in 4 agonizing days. . . well, you could watch him slip away. . . forever.

If I was going to make any sense out of this for my daughter, I needed to make sense out of it for myself. . . No small feat.

“Why do the innocent sometimes suffer, while the EVIL are allowed to flourish?”

“Why ME?”. . . I’ve been guilty of asking that question at least 5,345 times in my life (that I can remember)

“Why NOT you?” I’ve heard from some voice I hear in my head at least 5,344 times in my life (not even prescription drugs get rid of the voice. . . I hate that voice)

. . . But it’s true. . . What makes me think that I’m any better than anyone else? What gives me the right to think that we “deserved” the little ounce of happiness that this DOG brought our family any more than anyone else?

BECAUSE IT WAS OUR TURN, Damn it!

I have NO IDEA why the dude I call “GOD” decided NOT to intervene and spare that puppy’s life. My family and I have run the entire gamut of emotions and have seemed to settle on “acceptance”. But the question my daughter asked me still nags at me. . . I have yet to answer it for her. . .

All Seriousness Aside. . .

There are A TON of really BAD people out there in the world, who seem to be skating through life, without a care in the world. They do whatever they want. . . Whenever they want. . . to hell with the consequences. . . wait. . . to “Hell” with the “Consequences”?. . . I might be on to something. . . We did absolutely NOTHING wrong (the puppy had all its shots and was well taken care of) – yet, something AWFUL happened. It happened to my kids. . . INNOCENT kids that have never hurt anyone. While Paris Hilton

can run around SATANWOOD doing “God Knows What?” (he does, you know) and have 113 disease-free dogs and a buttload (Rosie O’Donnell-sized butt) of cash and be “Footloose and Fancy-Free”? What’s wrong with this picture? Why are there people living in 3rd World countries starving and dying every day? Why are there people in the U.S. frickin’ A. doing the same damn thing? Why are there millions of people still dying of AIDS? Why are there people that can’t get drinking water that doesn’t kill them? Why do people have to DIE? WHY? WHY? WHY?

. . . I can only answer it this way. . .

“WE” didn’t die. . . the puppy did. . .

Dude I call “GOD”, is watching. . . “This” (what we call ‘life’). . . is temporary. . .

He’s not always in charge of what happens “Down Here”. . . That’s why there is an “Up THERE”. . .

EVIL is in charge “Down Here”. . . that’s why bad stuff happens. . .

We are lucky for the time we have with those we love “Down Here”. . .

None of “This” will matter anymore. . . when we get “Up THERE”. . .

. . . Except one thing. . .

When we get “Up THERE”. . . We’ll remember. . . and we’ll all be TOGETHER again. . . God didn’t “accidentally” invent BAD STUFF. . . But the DEVIL sure likes to F*** it up for Everybody!

I’d like to think that we may get a shot at seeing our puppy again “Down Here”, before it’s all said and done. Sometimes I could swear that our other dog has the spirit of one of my boyhood pets. I don’t know how the logistics work. But I know that we’ve paid our dues. I’ve often said that I’ve probably picked up the tab for a few other people along the way, too. But in the “End Game” it will all even out. . .

That’s how I answered my daughter’s question. . . and my own.

Because the Farm was BOUGHT. . .and PAID FOR

‘Til Then. . . Go Figg’r!

Peace Out. . . Later

D A N

00ff00, 00ffff, 3366ff, a04bc8, ff0000, ff00ff, ff6600, ff99cc, ffcc00