MANDY FLYNN: Sometimes things are meant to be

That face.

We visited the new Sally Wetherbee Adoption Center in Albany last week, a little piece of heaven for dogs and cats waiting to be adopted. There’s a beautiful outdoor area where the dogs enjoy fresh air, run around a grassy area and play. The cats inside were chilling in their big, bright rooms filled with jungle gyms and scratching posts and tiny toys to paw around. Still more dogs were in their own little rooms indoors, resting on their beds or standing at the windowed doors watching the people go by. We stopped at each one and said hello.

That’s where we first met Gus — that face — a yellow mix of personality and sheer preciousness. Gus was the longest-staying resident at the Albany Humane Society as of last week, having been there for a year and a half, just about. He had watched as one by one all of his brothers and sisters were adopted. Sweet Gus waited patiently for someone to notice him and want to take him home.

That someone who was meant to be.

That’s what our daughter said about her Honey. Scruffy, funny, smart, sweet Honey. It only took her a few seconds, she said, to know they belonged together that Saturday morning three years ago at the Albany Humane Society. One of her college essays asked if she could talk to anyone, who would it be?

This is what she wrote:

“Most people would perhaps choose a person, a human being. If I may be so bold as to change the question just a little bit, I would not choose a human being at all — I would choose my dog, Honey. If Honey could talk, what would she tell me about the first year of her life? I would hope what she would have to say does not equal what I have been imagining about her mysterious past. I would hope she would tell me she was always near her mother in time of need, that the blistering cold winter nights never left her too chilled, and that she never went to bed hungry. I would hope she would tell me that the first time I discovered her love of carrots wasn’t her first time eating them, and that the first time we cuddled on the couch together wasn’t the first time she felt loved.”

See, she and Honey were meant to be.

There are still more meant to be’s right here. Animals that need love, food, and a warm, safe place to live and the people who need a furry companion to love on. Thank God for the Albany Humane Society and now the beautiful no-kill Sally Wetherbee Adoption Center and all the people who care for and love on these animals each and every day until they are adopted.

And Gus … I heard he got adopted this week. No more watching others find homes. Now he has his very own.

Others haven’t been as fortunate yet. They’re being patient. They’re still waiting for that special someone to love him just the way they are. Their meant to bes.

Maybe, just maybe, it’s you.

If you’d like to help, you can call the Albany Humane Society at (229) 888-7387. If you’re not able to adopt a pet, you can still do something. Donations are always welcome and you can volunteer to help out.

Those faces. You’re going to love them all.

Contact Mandy Flynn at her website, www.mandyflynn.com.