She fit right in ❤️
Over the last few weeks, the small city of Capoeiras, Brazil, has been going all out for the holiday season — tying ribbons, hanging lights and setting up a charming nativity scene display in the town’s main square. And it’s a good thing they thought ahead to get prepared.
Because, in a way, Christmas came a little early this year.
The other day, on a warm summer morning, local resident Junior Almeida was walking through the town square when he noticed something different about the little nativity scene’s arrangement there.
The display’s centerpiece manger — traditionally left empty leading up to Christmas day — was inexplicably occupied.
Moving in for a better look, Almeida realized that the manger’s occupant wasn’t some porcelain figurine placed there too early — though she certainly was exuding a sweet, saintly glow.
It was a beautiful dog who’d chosen the manger as a place to nap.
Almeida was not disappointed by the imposter. To him, she was no imposter at all.
“God is in everything and everyone — including in animals,” Almeida told The Dodo.
Though Almeida initially suspected the dog to be a stray without a friend in the world, he came to learn that she, not unlike the manger’s intended occupant, was the recipient of beared gifts of kindness, too.
“Her name is Caramelo,” Almeida said. “She lives nearby at a restaurant on the square. She is fed and cared for by people in the community.”
The story of Caramelo’s origins isn’t known for sure, but Almeida suspects she’d been abandoned in the square at some point in the past. If that were indeed the case, her place within the humble nativity scene display is yet even more apropos.
The compassion of strangers had softened the edges of her adversity, bringing with it hope — and blossoming into something truly worth celebrating.
