Two devastated families

Yesterday two things happened that just leave all of us...shaking our heads and wondering....why?

In American Fork, Utah an 11 year old boy was dragged from a tent, being occupied by mother, step-father and 6-year-old brother. It was originally thought that he had been kidnapped because the slice in the tent was very precise. It turns out that a 300 pound black bear was the culprit. They found the boy's body about 400 yards away and then the park rangers located the bear and killed him.

At a Boy Scout camp near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania a nine year old boy scout was waiting outside to have his health records reviewed when a 13 foot totem pole fell over and killed the young scout.

I'm really not sure which story is stranger....but both stories have one thing in common. Two families are completely devastated this morning....and the family of the bear is wondering why papa hasn't brought back dinner.

This is one of those stories that will be defined by strange animal rights activists. They will be asking why the bear had to be killed. It reminds me of the time in 1994.....two months after my 15 son had died. I was at a Furniture show in North Carolina, just operating on instinct, and a customer and I started talking. She asked me if I was ok because obviously I wasn't. I told her a little bit about my son and she looked at me with very sad eyes and said...."I know exactly what you are going through.....my 14 year dog just died last week."

The moment hung in the air.....thick as the giant pig bacon from Alabama named Fred....and I couldn't rationalize what I had just heard. My first thought was to slap this woman across the face....and then I slowly remembered my late mother's relationship with her dogs.

I decided not to slap this lady and instead just looked at her and said...."Well, at least you can get another dog." She looked at me like I was insane and said...."I could never replace Trixie."

Another moment hung in the air and I decided to become a Tibetan MONK.....there was nothing I could say at that moment.....so I simply went back to the sales presentation.

I think she wrote a HFC (hold for confirmation) that was never confirmed.

The point I'm making here is that I'm always amazed at how much people love animals...which is ok unless something regarding a human being takes a back seat to that type of love. I sure hope that people who love totem poles aren't going to make a fuss over why one would fall over.

When I was young I was a member of the 4-H club and had daily responsibilities including the milking of a goat every morning before school....I had a pet goat, a pet sheep, a horse and quite a few other types of animals that had names. The difference on a farm between the animal hierarchy is based on who has a name....and who doesn't.

When an animal has a name it means somebody loves it.......but no matter how much somebody loves an animal....there is always another one that looks just like the old one...that can replace one when it dies.

No one has remotely been able to figure out how this can happen on the human level.

I know how those two families feel about their lost of their sons but I can't even remotely know how they deal with the bizarre circumstances.

Sometimes life can be a little more bizarre than actually needed....because really my friends....it's plenty bizarre already.

Michael Timothy McAlevey