She was sleek and athletic, built for speed. When she ran, she was a streak of golden brown, her long legs pounding the turf like a horse.

 Moonlight Blonde was a greyhound, bred to race. And race she did, winning three and coming third in several events. But she was unplaced in most of the races she was entered in, and before she was three years old, her career was over.

With no value as a racer, Moonlight Blonde was taken in by a greyhound adoption program, which finds homes for these retired dogs. She was given a temperament assessment and put through their fostering program to help her transition from life at the track and a kennel environment to hopefully a new start as a pet living in a family home.

A Work in Progress

Now no longer called Moonlight Blonde, simply Blondie, she was sent to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) last July and advertised on their website. That’s where we saw her photo one Saturday.

The next afternoon we had an appointment to meet her. She was friendly, with soulful brown eyes, a big doggy grin, legs like long sticks—and she came home with us.

Moonlight Blonde’s reinvention as Blondie is an ongoing process. She walks like a dream on a leash (no doubt thanks to her training as a racer) but can never go lead-free in public. It’s a practicality because Blondie has no recall. As a sight hound, she can see clearly up to one kilometre away, and if she decided to chase after something, she could reach a speed of more than 50 km/h. We’d never see her again! But she enjoys her walks and has plenty of “zoomie” time around our backyard, churning up a great track for herself.

Over the past few months, she has settled into her new persona as a family pet. Like all greyhounds, sleep is a favourite activity. Her days are spent sprawled out on her big fluffy bed for hours, chewing her toys, going for walkies and having lots of pats.

Does she remember her former life? Does she still yearn to run? Perhaps. She was trained in a city near the seashore. I think she remembers some of that, because she loves it when we take her walking along the beach. Her head lifts, she’s hyper-alert and she does a kind of prance along the sand.

Moonlight Blonde’s reinvention as Blondie is an ongoing process. FAYE MICHELSON

Reinventing Ourselves 

Reinventing ourselves is a process we all go through at varying levels at different stages of our lives. Often, it’s in response to the ebb and flow of life experiences, changing our attitudes and goals as we face new opportunities or circumstances. Going from being single into a relationship, becoming a parent, moving into a new career—life presents us with new challenges, new opportunities and new paths to follow.

Big changes like these require motivation, resilience and hard work. We reinvent ourselves to whatever degree we choose to become a partner, a mom or dad or to fulfil our new position of responsibility.

But sometimes, reinventing ourselves is not a choice. Like Moonlight Blonde, it can be forced upon us. That’s another sort of reinvention, born of loss—the loss of a relationship, a job, a loved one, health. These losses can change who we thought we were, but does that mean we need to find a new identity? When we face loss, do we need reinvention or renewal?

Reinvention or Renewal

Renewal is different from reinvention. It is a refreshment, literally making new, but I also like the definition in the Cambridge Dictionary: “To begin doing something again or with increased strength.”

Perhaps what we need is not reinvention but a renewing of the person we have always been and, in fact, the person we are despite what we are going through. Broken perhaps, grieving and sad, even angry or desperate, but still us. Though we may feel unloved and unlovable, God loves us in whatever state we come to Him, and His love will bring about renewal, should we choose to accept Him.

The Bible talks about this in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago” (New Living Translation).

That brings me back to the greyhound that started me thinking about reinvention and renewal.

Was Blondie reinvented? I don’t think so. I like to think she’s been renewed. She’s a dog, like she always was, even when she was a racer. The difference is that she’s just not a racer anymore, but she’s loved and accepted for the dog she is now.

But you know what? I often call her Moonlight Blonde.

Reprinted from Salvos Magazine, January 27, 2024

Photos: Faye Michelson