The other day, I was listening to a great Terry Gross interview with my new favorite performer, Rosanne Cash, whose remarkable new cd, The List, just came out. One of the things that Terry asked the her was about religion: Cash had gone through a particularly challenging time, and what was it, Terry asked, that sustained her. And her answer was so poignant that I had to pull over to the side of the road: she said, “well, I adhere to the religion of art and music and small children” and

The pronouncements of small children. You know, I’m not the type to turn to religion in that way. I’m not the type to turn to drugs and alcohol, but I do have a profound devotion to art and music – and children.

And when I heard it, I thought, “well, finally.” Because the things that people say about religion are sometimes so canned and trite that it’s often hard for me to take them seriously. It got me thinking, too, because I’ve had a lot of challenge in recent years, and I don’t generally point my prayers northward. Instead, my own personal a-ha moments come in gardens, in recognizing how stunning things like Japanese turnips can be when they’re still small, in my baby cousin Malcolm’s grin, in the fact of Susan, and when I turn around in the kitchen to find that Addie is staring at me quietly, smiling, and wagging. For no apparent reason.

On Saturday, Susan and I took Addie to the place where it all began for the three of us: a parking lot in Glastonbury, Connecticut next to a Dunkin’ Donuts. It was there that her transport up from Arkansas to Memphis and Memphis to our home began. We had adopted her sight unseen from an organization called Labs4Rescue, which specializes in bringing needy dogs up north. Once the adoption or foster is agreed-upon, another remarkable organization, P.E.T.S — Peterson Express Transport Service, run by Kyle and Pam Peterson — drives the dogs up in a retro-fitted, climate-controlled horse trailer on a trip that takes 3 days. And on this trip, Glenda, the woman who first connected us to Addie, would be in attendance. Could she see Addie again? We jumped at the chance for a reunion, and for us to finally meet this totally remarkable woman who has changed the lives of hundreds of dogs and their people. Like us.

Would Addie remember her? Would the sight of the transport, packed with barking pups of all ages destined for new homes and families upset her? Honestly, we weren’t sure. But when she stretched out on the parking lot pavement while waiting for the transport to arrive, we knew.

No one really knows for sure who finds religion in what; for Rosanne Cash, it’s music and art and children. For me, its my family, and food, and feeding people, and the velvet brown eyes of a dog who is safe and happy.

And Glenda, Addie’s angel.

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