When Your Gerbil is Missing

“Age does not protect you from love, but love to some extent protects you from age.” Jeanne Moreau

While walking around in Santa Monica the other morning, I saw a “Missing Pet” sign on the Whole Foods bulletin board. I walked closer expecting to see an image of a missing Shih Tsu or possibly a labradoodle. Surprisingly, it was not a cat or a dog but rather a gerbil that went missing. The sign read as follows:

MISSING GERBIL
His name is Bruce but he responds to Xiaoping
Characteristics: great teeth, pretty brown coat, singed tail
Please call me if you find him. Reward $17.90

I know what you must be thinking and I agree. I freakin ran home and called the number! Not because I found the gerbil but because I was curious as to what kind of person would post such a sign! So I called and the conversation went something like this…

Ring, ring…

“Hello?”

“Yes, I’m calling about the missing gerbil sign…”

“Oh my God, did you find him?!”

“No, I didn’t find him but I’m just curious who would post such a sign?”

“Wait a second, I think I know this voice. Is this Yeah Dave?”

I hung up. WTF?! How could this person know me? Might it be from my yoga class? Could there be a chance that my book might be attracting such nutjobs?

*****

This morning I read a quote by the amazing Gabriel Garcia Marquez who said, “To all, I would say how mistaken they are when they think that they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love…”

There is no denying that as we get older, we grow limper, softer, and saggier. But our love need not sink with our loins. Love comes in so many forms and while it might sting us in youth, it’s more likely to caress, lick, or nibble (aka gerbil) at us in our twilight.

Allow your notion of love to evolve with time. It was so shallow of me to question that man’s love for a gerbil. Love has the ability to transform a rodent into the crown jewel of beauty. Oscar Hammerstein said it perfectly: “Do you love me because I'm beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me?”

Now let’s be clear. I’m not suggesting you run off to Petco and buy a gerbil. I’m just saying sometimes we step on snails, and squash parades of ants, and lift our noses at gerbils thinking we are “better than.” So I say God Bless this “man with gerbil.” And I’m happy that this “man with gerbil” somehow knows me. Yes I might be attracting nutjobs. But whether they be nutjobs, gerbils, dogs, or snails…the wise man in the East would tell you: Love does not discriminate by the nature of a creature, but by the space in its heart.

Namaste

David Romanelli
www.yeahdave.com

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