NATHALIE & CAROLINE

Today I talked to Nathalie and Caroline.

Every Sunday on my way to the Larchmont farmers' market, I walk past a bunch of dogs to adopt.

Enclosed in a small fence is a muddle of teensy five-weeks-old puppies. Their space looks like a circus school with each animal trying out some peculiar new trick. People stop to watch this adorable show. The children want to pet them and adults exclaim: “Look at that! So small and sweet!”

I notice a young girl with long curly hair who juggles the puppies with confidence. “They’re very mischievous”, she says. Her name is Nathalie. She is thirteen-year-old and works as a volunteer for the mission -Saving Grace- . “I just do this because I love animals”. She points at a younger girl, Caroline: “She’s here because she follows me around. We’re sisters”, says Nathalie. “She’s the one who starts the fights and I’m the one who takes the blame”, says Nathalie. Caroline looks at her oldest sister but doesn’t say a thing. “I’m better with parents”, adds Nathalie. Caroline utters timidly: “She thinks she’s pretty”. Nathalie laughs. Then Caroline gazes fondly at the cream puppy wrapped in her arms and her freckled face brightens.

Later the girls introduce me to Polly who created Saving Grace twenty years ago. She was an actress but found it too difficult to wait for calls from Hollywood. She explains humbly how much work the animals represent and adds that she paid four hundred dollars to get the puppies out of the shelter.

In the fence the puppies are fast asleep, crammed into a comical puppy-pile. A forty-year-old bald man holds a chocolate brown puppy in his hand and then raises it to his face: “I wish I could take you home with me but my cat won’t allow it!”. He turns to his friend: “I come here every Sunday to torture myself.” He puts the chocolate dog down and leaves.

A slender young woman grabs a golden beige puppy. “The good thing about them being so small is you can tell their character”, she says to her boyfriend. He points out to the little animals: “This one is timid and this one is a fighter,” he says. “Mine is a quiet one. It could be cool to have one like that”, the girl adds.

Two hours go by. Caroline is still holding her creamy friend in her sweater. “It’s a boy puppy. I like boys better, they’re more playful”, says Caroline. Nathalie glances towards the animal : “He is very sweet but I haven’t had a chance to hold him yet”, she says. She rolls her eyes and looks really annoyed. “Because she won’t let me have him”, she adds.

It's 4pm. Polly packs the pets and their fences. She is exhausted. Today, only one out of the ten puppies found an adoptive family.

The sisters’ dad is on his way to pick them up. Their secret plan is to foster the puppy for a week and have their dad allow them to keep it. “We have a dog. His name is Joe”, says Nathalie. “Our dad thinks we can’t handle another animal, even though we took care of a cat for ten days”, she says. Caroline is quick on the draw: “You’ll pick up his poo”, she says. “NO! It’s liquid poo. It’s disgusting”, answers Nathalie.

Their father, John, parks his car. Caroline holds the creamy puppy with outstretched arms and with an imploring look she asks: “Father, can we keep him?” - “We already have a dog”, he says. Caroline approaches the puppy to her dad: “But his name’s Sergeant Pepper!” she shouts in desperation. Her father smiles softly and looks away.

Tonight, Nathalie and Caroline’s little friend will sleep with his siblings. But now at least he has a name.







Saving Grace: http://www.savinggracela.org/