Chase's Turtle Story
"TURTLE"
--MY PET TURTLE STORY--
I grew up in a small town in Colorado called Haxtun. As a kid, I always looked forward to the spring, because I knew it wouldn't be long before school would be closing for the summer. My younger brother (Warren) and I had a big yard to play in, but the huge corner lot would often flood if we had a big rainstorm. After the lot would fill with water, we could hear the frogs croaking and singing throughout the summer nights. There were many trees, flowers, lilac bushes, and even dandelions that covered the back and front yards and especially the corner lot.
Each spring would bring a very welcome and pleasant visitor to our home. It was our family turtle. I think my Mom found him (or her--since I don't know what sex it was) originally at a reservoir area, crawling across the main road and less than 30 miles from Haxtun. Turtle, as I will refer to him, would just seem to appear, each and every year, out of nowhere--sometimes after one of those major rainstorms.
A cardboard box was set up. No top--just a four-sided box, with a bottom, became Turtle's home for the spring and summer. He stayed in the house with his own little home. He was sure good to us kids. He never seemed to bite or get too upset with us. Of course, all of our friends had to pick up Turtle to see if he would peek out from his shell at them. He seemed to like the attention, and when he didn't want to be bothered, he'd just pull his head and feet into his shell. Turtle was a medium-sized turtle and seemed to stay the same size each year that he would come home. He was marked so beautifully on his top shell. He was mostly brown in color with a very hard shell, but the unique markings identified him as the same turtle when he came home from his hibernation period.
Turtle enjoyed eating lettuce leaves and raw hamburger--especially the raw hamburger. He would also eat table scraps and drink lots of water.
In the fall, just before the first sign of snow and cold weather setting in, it was time to take Turtle outside to return to his natural environment. He would be able to hibernate and do whatever turtles do before and after hibernation. It was always a little sad to take Turtle outside and let him do whatever came natural for him to do. We always held to the hope that next spring Turtle would come back home.
During those long, cold winter days, Turtle was never to be seen. I remember Warren and I would look for him and sometimes even dig holes in hopes that we might find him. Turtle may have been somewhere under our property the whole time or he may have been miles away. We never knew and probably will never know where he went.
As winter came to a close each year, and spring was arriving, I can still hear Mom or Dad or Warren asking: "Guess who came home?" Sure enough, every single year (without fail), Turtle would appear out of what seemed like nowhere. We were always so very happy to have Turtle back home with us once again.
Mom and Dad were so wonderful to let my brother and me have our pet turtle become part of the family during the spring and summer months. We had him in our lives for as long as Warren and I were still at home. Being four years older, I left that many years before my brother did. Warren got to spend more time with Turtle after I had moved away. After Warren left home and some odd years later, Turtle was never to be seen by our family, again.
I don't know if Turtle went to Heaven or if he may still be down here--visiting the human race by having chosen another family to visit. Wherever Turtle may be, I know that he loved kids, and I know that he was the most dedicated visitor to brighten so many lives in that little town of Haxtun, Colorado. I miss him as I recall these happy memories; however, Turtle continues to live in my heart. Turtle taught me a very valuable lesson. He taught me that no matter who or what we are, we have the capacity to express unconditional love to those who really need to be loved.
Turtle couldn't talk in words, but if he could, I think he would say, show everyone possible that you love them and then walk your talk by being committed to caring and sharing in their lives.
Love from Turtle and from me,
Chase
Copyright © 1998-2024--Chase (chase4ever+webaf@gmail.com). All rights reserved.
THIS STORY IS DEDICATED TO MY WONDERFUL FRIEND ROGER.
HE INSPIRED ME TO WRITE THIS TRUE STORY.
NOTE: More about "TURTLE" follows:
Turtle continues to touch hearts--ever since the 1950s.....
Hello Dear Friend:
This may sound corny at first, but I think that as you read it, you will find love and magic woven into this letter to Turtle. This is a follow-up story about the "Turtle" story, and I hope that it will bring some added joy to you as it has for me.
Love unconditionally,
Chase
(The letter follows.)
--A Letter to "Turtle"--
Hello Turtle:
I thought I would write you a letter to let you know that you are still touching hearts in your own very special way. It has been many, many years since I last saw you, but I thought you might like to know what happened after I wrote a short story about you.
I have a very dear friend, Roger, who suggested that I write a story about you. By the way, Roger's nickname is Turtle. I agreed with him that one day I would write about you, and when I did (a few days later), I loved it so much that I decided to dedicate your story to Roger. You would like him; he has a circle of friends that are some of the nicest people one would ever want to meet. He loved the story about you and your unconditional love so much that he sent this story to many of his friends.
After some of Roger's friends read your true story, they wrote to him, and they wrote to me. You would be amazed at the love those people expressed, and some of them wanted me to write more. I thought about this after receiving a letter from one of them, and I knew that there was more to write about you. This young man wrote something I have heard about many times before this, but this is something that you, Turtle, had demonstrated. He said that if you love something, let it go, and if it returns, then it was meant to be. Every year that our family let you go, you returned the next year. It took his reading about you and his sharing that with me for me to realize that.
You are probably in Heaven now, and you may have met a groundhog, who visited another family--like you visited ours. One of the readers of your story shared his story with me about a groundhog who was just like you in his visiting us humans. Sadness was woven into his childhood because of a great loss--a fire, but he could relate to you.
When I wrote your story, I had no idea that more love would come from it. Thank you, Turtle, for bringing some wonderful people into my life. I smiled as I read each one of those caring letters. A tear trickled down my face at times as I realized how much compassion people have when they read your story. I am sure that you would want me to share this letter with those dear hearts and gentle people (to coin a phrase); so, that they know that a little boy's dream continues to come true....even when he's no longer a little boy.
I am more grateful to you now, than ever before, for teaching me a valuable lesson of how to express unconditional love. And the follow-up lesson has been even greater, and that is that by practicing that kind of love, great (yes, very great) dividends are received in mysterious ways and multiply as I share them.
Turtle, I never said "Goodbye" to you, and now, I don't think I ever will. I loved you when I was a little guy, and now that I'm in my golden years, I treasure you even more. If you would do me one more favor, it would be to bless all of those people who have made me feel so loved and appreciated--because of you!!
I will continue to watch for the miracles ahead, and I hope that one day we shall meet again.
Love,
Chase
(UPDATED) PS. Turtle, I can't begin to express to you my gratitude for the number of people who have visited you at my website since May of 1998. More than any other page, your page is the one that is remembered--by the little ones, the teenagers, the young adults, the mature adults, and any other group that I may have left out. Turtle, ever since your story was written, you continue to touch hearts and bring smiles to so many of us. Roger must have been influenced by you and knew what he was doing when he asked me to write your story. I am sure more hearts will be moved because of one very, very special turtle--that being you!!
Copyright © 1998-2024--Chase (chase4ever+webaf@gmail.com). All rights reserved.
THIS LETTER IS DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY THE TURTLE STORY AND ESPECIALLY TO ROGER--THE PERSON WHO ASKED ME TO WRITE IT.
Thank you from Turtle and from me for your visit and for your compassion.
Roger: Thank you for inspiring me to write this story.
Shanni: Thank you Shanni for your lovely gifts of the pictures and banners on this page.
BELOW IS A LIST OF MY OTHER WEB PAGES
This is your personal invitation to experience
~~my world of dreams and reality~~
by CLICKING the items on this list:
Chase's Feeling Feelings
Chase's I Am Home With My Family
Chase's Awards From Others Page #1
Chase's Awards From Others Page #2
Chase's Awards From Others Page #3
Chase's Awards From Others Page #4
Chase's Favorite Links
Chase's Recognition at Cybertown
Chase's Home Page
Chase's Tribute to Mom in Heaven
Chase's Wonderful Dad and His Love
Chase's Birthday Gift for You on Your Birthday
Chase's Reserved Chair
Chase's Special Memories
Chase's Tears of Joy
Chase's Treasures
Thank you for being here!!
PLEASE SIGN MY
GUEST BOOK:
To SIGN and/or VIEW my current Guest Book,
(a separate window will open for doing this),
CLICK "Sign my Guestbook"--below this line:
You can VIEW my PREVIOUS Guest Books by clicking the links below:
Click here to VIEW my very first filled Guest Book
Click here to VIEW my second filled Guest Book
To contact me by e-mail,
please click the link below this:
Send email
If the email link doesn't work for you, you can email me at the following address:
chase4ever+webaf@gmail.com
Copyright © 1998-2024--Regarding personal text, design and layout, Chase (chase4ever+webaf@gmail.com). All rights reserved. Disclaimer: If anything is owned by you, please let me know so that I can give you credit for it or remove it. I make no money from this website and it is my intent to take no credit for anything that belongs to someone else. Thank you.
Visitor Counter:
I greatly appreciate Angelfire for providing the space for my website.
