First

Today I understood how destiny works in the strangest ways. There was a huge issue at Sporting Club in Alexandria because some stray dogs were on the golf course. Members were angry, complaining nonstop… even though the dogs were quiet, harmless, and had been there for years. The club called me for help. I went once… twice… and on the third day, with a tranquilizer catcher, we finally managed to reach the first dog. When I approached him, my heart stopped. His neck was carved open all the way around—an old, deep, infected wound. Someone had tied a rope around his neck when he was a tiny puppy… and never removed it. He grew. The rope didn’t. It cut into his flesh day after day, year after year. He suffered in silence… completely alone. I cut the rope off, cleaned the wound, treated him, and carried him out with my own hands. In that moment, I realized something: All the chaos, all the shouting, all the sudden “problem”… It wasn’t about the dogs on the golf course. It was so I could find him. So I could save him. I named him First — because he was the first one we rescued, and the first soul that reminded me why I do what I do.