Last Saturday I had to take one of my cats to the vet for her yearly shots. While I was standing at the counter waiting to pay, a girl of about twelve came in holding an injured turtle. Her father followed her in and asked the receptionist if the vet treated turtles. They had stopped in the middle of the road to move the turtle, who was attempting to cross the road, and had discovered that the turtle was bleeding. The receptionist told them that, yes, the doctor would treat the turtle but that there was a $26.95 charge for the office visit. Additional medications and treatment would cost more on top of that fee. The father told the receptionist that he would pay for the turtle's treatment, so in they all came...daughter, father, mother, and young brother. It was a beautiful Saturday morning after a week of rain. The sun was shining, the azaleas were blooming, and that family had to have been out doing something much more fun than sitting with an injured turtle in a strange vet's office. I marveled at the willingness of this young family to assume the responsibility, financial and otherwise, for this turtle they they, no doubt, planned ultimately to release. The story, unfortunately, has a sad ending because, as I found out later, there was nothing the vet could do for the turtle except to give him a comfort injection. Someone had run over him and the internal injuries were fatal. And yet, how wonderful it is that these parents valued creation so highly that they took the time to teach their children to care for the little ones. St. Francis would have been pleased.
