June Bog

If a Little Red Wagon Could Talk...

About twenty years ago, my niece, Nicole, and her husband, Joe, purchased a little red "Flyer" wagon for their daughter, Gabby.

It was a great little wagon!

I think that if it could talk about where it's been over the past twenty years, it would have quite a story to tell.

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Gabby used the wagon and then it became her sister, Claudia's, wagon. When the girls were too old to use it anymore, my niece decided to find a home for their little red wagon. It was just around that time when our Long Island Chapter of Canine Companions was searching for a wagon to put our puppies in for the Memorial Day Parade in Massapequa Park here on Long Island.  Word got back to Nicole of our needing a wagon and we inherited the little wagon. We took it home and decorated it with red, white and blue streamers and flags. It was a sight to behold. My granddaughter, Maddie, and I spent an entire day decorating it. It was beautiful!!  Of course, the decorated wagon paled in comparison to the puppies we pulled in it along Park Boulevard that year and years after that.  But, the little red wagon did its job! We even used it to haul water for the parade walkers and extra hand outs bringing awareness to CCI. We had such fun for many years with our little red wagon.  It came to street festivals with us and other special events.  It served it's purpose well. After each event the wagon was put in our basement for the next year all decorated and ready to go. 

Years past and the little red wagon was very seldom used by the Chapter any more.  It remained down in our basement, decorated and filled with CCI pamphlets and supplies. Then recently, my husband and I decided to clean the basement and get rid of things that were not used anymore.  The thought of getting rid of the wagon was bitter sweet for me. It brought back all of those treasured memories of days gone by. BUT,  we decided to go through all of the "stuff" in it, remove the decorations and clean it up to see if someone else would want the little red wagon. I've since learned that the wagons of today have seat belts for the little ones and our wagon was not up to todays standards so, as a result, it became of no use to anyone that I asked to take it. Thereby, Denis and I decided to put it out to the curb hoping that someone might want the little red wagon. It was sad for me to see it go. But, I knew in my heart that it had served its purpose and now it was time to see it move on. Well, low and behold, right after putting it to the curb we got a knock at our front door. A woman asked if we were getting rid of the little red wagon at the curb or...she continued, "was it one of our kids wagons left out there by mistake."  I told her that we were getting rid of it and that it was hers if she wanted it. She was thrilled and said that she needed it for her little ones. I told her that we no longer had any little ones in our family.  In fact, on that very day my great niece, Gabby, the first one to ride in the wagon...was graduating from college! "Wow!." she said, "That wagon really has some history!!" After helping her load it into her car, I watched as she drove away thinking of the future adventures of the little red wagon. There were more adventures and more stories in store for the wagon. It's exciting to have been a small part of all of these stories. Stories that are all kept hidden in those wheels that go a little slower now, but move forward on its journey, none the less.  

It's funny how things can become pivotal in our lives and the lives of so many people and animals. How the journey of a little red wagon started by bringing happiness to a little girl and her sister and then moving on to even greater adventures bringing happiness and awareness to people along its life's road of adventures for an organization that helps people with disabilities...CCI 💛💙 We will never know where it will end up, but I do know that it's going to a good place as the adventures of a little red "Flyer" wagon continue...

​I wonder what that little red wagon would say if to could talk.

Happy Tales To You!
xoxo Yvonne