Who was Baxter? Just a cuddly, gregarious 35-pound Wheaten Terrier who brought joy and smiles to everyone who met him. EVERYBODY he saw got the “Wheaten Greeting,” a full, embraced hug where Baxter jumped up off all four legs to say “hi, I don’t know you, but I like you.”
There’s the point of this new movement — the website, future articles and postings, the bumper stickers, future tee shirts and who knows what else — an attempt to raise awareness of how Baxter’s love for every stranger he met can serve as a model for the rest of us. Call me a dreamer, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to embrace our connections and similarities, our common love of animals (just an example) when we meet a stranger BEFORE we automatically search for our differences? How great would it be to NOT BE LABELED instantly as a Liberal or a MAGA, a Christian or a Jew, a Black or a White, a Gay or a Straight — BUT, JUST AS A PERSON TRYING TO NAVIGATE THIS CHALLENGING THING CALLED “LIFE?”
You see, Baxter didn’t know color, nationality, religion, sexual preference, Democrat or Republican, dog-lover or not. He only saw a living, breathing person that needed to be jumped on and greeted with love and affection BEFORE he even got to know this person. Our friends, our mail carrier, the Amazon, FedEx, and UPS delivery folks — anybody with a breathing heart got the same warm embrace WITHOUT JUDGEMENT.
Call me naive, call me a dreamer, but I am choosing to BE LIKE BAXTER for the rest of my days on this earth. No more labeling, no more passing judgement about people living their lives differently than me, no more avoiding people because their political beliefs are divergent with my own. Instead, I’m going to BE LIKE BAXTER and look for the good in everybody, and focus on where we share commonality, where we have similar passions, where we can AGREE on major issues in the world, right now. Plus, along the way, we can share ways we all deal with the grief of the loss of a loving pet. The creation of this website and BE LIKE BAXTER paraphernalia is a major way I am dealing with my grief.
I don’t exactly know where this journey will take me, but I am willing to try. I want Baxter’s legacy to be bigger than “he was a cute, cuddly dog.” I hope you will follow, and join me in this attempt to create more harmony and less discord! Please post bumper stickers, contribute articles, come up with ways to help me spread this simple, but important message. Most importantly, let’s all start BEING LIKE BAXTER!