Catching Dawn: A Search for a Dog and the Discovery of Family
By: Melissa Armstrong / Narrated By: Ann Simmons
Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
How do you know when a story is getting AWESOME? When you pause to Google the bejesus outta stuff…!!!
At first I had a problem getting “into” Catching Dawn by Melissa Armstrong. I thought it was because the narration by Ann Simmons was a tad off. Her tones were a touch strident, a bit on the shrill side. Good cow, methinks to m’self: Almost 8! hours of this?
But then I was oh so quickly immersed in what I imMEDiately recognized: The call to help one of The Lesser of God’s Creatures, and I know from experience that THAT almost NEVER turns out to be an easy thing (Indeed, I rail to the Heavens each and every time I see a creature in need, knowing my danged heart is about to get dinged in a BIG way!). Melissa and her (Awesome!) husband Mason are out walking their pack of dogs and fosters when they’re approached by whom we come to know as Bernice, a woman from poverty, living in poverty, and caring in the way that the poor can for a feral dog she calls Night who just dropped eight puppies in her yard.
Melissa has a knee-jerk judgment call of all those who live below the Working Class, but soon, as she strives to help Bernice, she comes to see them for the people they are: Those who weren’t given Middle Class chances, and people who live their lives as unassumingly as possible.
Thinking only of the puppies, of how cute and wriggly they are, of their semi-sweet semi-sour puppy breath, she tells Bernice No Problem! She and Mason will catch Night in a jiffy, and then they can take the puppies off the property to be re-homed.
It takes six months…
And those six months are fraught with mysteries and woeful realizations. Realizations like having a healthy dog is a Middle Class privilege; the poor make do with what’s at hand. Realizations like in poor rural areas, dogs are not fixed, dogs are dumped, dogs are expendable. And dogs can be shot on sight, as just so much refuse, no questions asked. It was at this point that I paused my listening to Google thefarnival.com, Melissa’s website/blog about life in their rural Tennessee home, about the plight of animals and shelters in the state. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time reading some horrific yet SUCH wonderful stories as the woman and the (Awesome) Mason write and film and bring awareness to so many issues. On that website are horror stories, yet there are glorious shoutouts also, so while I was getting all forlorn about Night/Dawn and what happened to her pack when she was 6-months old, I was also learning some nice things about kind rescues and rescuers who were enlightened via social media (Cuz one canNOT have a rescue audiobook withOUT social media nowadays… the rescuers aren’t touting themselves: they’re informing the world at large).
There are also stories of life at home with Mason and their pack; each of the dogs and their stories are lovingly given airtime. And she also goes into how brutal her own childhood was and how that led her to wish to protect animals, those near-perfect beings who bring unconditional love. I must admit, however, that Melissa almost lost me when her dearest dog, Miss Annie, her soul companion, died in a tragic accident as there was no mercy for any involved, and there was precious little openness to healing.
But wouldn’t ya know it: It’s never about replacing an animal, but there’s always new love in the wings to guide one’s focus away from the glaring loss. Melissa finds her heart open yet again, and thus was my interest in the book renewed.
Yup, there was indeed a bit of shrill to the tones in the performance by Ms. Simmons, but soon I came to appreciate it. Times and failed attempts did call for shrill reactions, and brittleness was the name of the day when a soul’s friend leaves, so I shut up my ceaseless moanings about how the performance Coulda Been Better, and I appreciated it for what it was: Heartfelt when all was said and done.
Truly a grand story with the harsh realities of life for expendable animals and expendable people shaded in nicely without being histrionic in any way, shape or form. I often shudder when I see poor people with animals (I TOTALLY admit that this is reeeeeally AWFUL of me!) because I know the expense of food and medical care and general upkeep. But this book had the WONderful message I always need to hear: Love should be a right for everyone, and who am I to tell a heart No? Bernice, who starts off seeming uncaring and horrifically pragmatic turns into the dearest soul, but even then? Her heart is told No, and I was very sad for her but I could see the reasoning behind it.
The ending reminded me of my dearest Serena (Baby Girl!), but I won’t go into that cuz I’ll save my Spoilers for audiobooks I haaaaate, and that is DEFinitely NOT the case with Catching Dawn—a rollercoaster with a couple of bouts of repressed emotion waking up through love.
Made me think of the love I had with Serena after three months of trying to catch her; made me think of all the love I have now with Blanche and Bitty Bit (aka David) after years of feeding them at work.
Life is far grander with animals, and time is well-spent when listening to stories of rescuing those who love us, despite our many faults…
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.