It was one of the worst weeks of Michelle Burleson’s life. She had just returned from the veterinary hospital where her 13-year-old dog, Budgie Lou, had been euthanized. It seemed like nothing in life could ease the pain in her heart – when suddenly she heard a faint knock at the door.
When she opened it, Michelle found a squirrel. The forest guest was quite thin, and its fur was shabby. The squirrel stared intently at the woman, not even thinking about running away. Then Michelle searched the kitchen for a handful of nuts and scattered them on the doorstep. She thought that would be the end of the story, but that evening the squirrel returned and knocked on the door again.
When Michelle reached out to the squirrel, the frightened animal immediately hopped away, but it wasn’t long before she was able to make contact.
She would come in the morning and stay the day and leave in the evening. And it happened over and over again. I soon began to look forward to her daily visits, Michelle recalls.
The woman named the squirrel Stayme. With her arrival, the longing and sadness of her dog’s passing gradually began to fade. The squirrel also perked up. She recovered a bit and began to trust Michelle more. The guest even began to accurately take nuts from the woman’s hands.
Soon Stayme began to enter the house as if it were her own. She drank water from the dog’s bowl and slept on his cot.
Not a day went by when Stymie didn’t visit Michelle. Her friends even started joking that she was the reincarnation of Baji or one of her deceased relatives.
Inspired by her new friend and deceased dog Budgie Lou, Michelle started Budgie Lou Brew Coffee & Co. which donates a portion of the proceeds to rescues, animal shelters and hospices for senior dogs. To start the business, she had to sell everything she had – including her house – and say goodbye to Stymie.
I saw Stymie in my rearview mirror. It was standing there looking at me. I turned the car around to say goodbye to it one last time.
The little squirrel still lives in the tree growing in the yard of Michelle’s former home, and has no idea how much it has changed her life. Not only has it seen the woman through hard times, but it has instilled hope for a better future.
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