Ralphie is my hero. I rescued him after
Katrina while I was rescuing in LA and MS. He was terrified and needed someone
to love him desperately. I took him home to foster for my shelter. I didn't
know what to do. I was supposed to be adopting another dog at the shelter but
didn't want Ralphie to go to the shelter because of the condition he was in.
In addition, I didn't want to let him go either. I did a lot of praying and
the next day an awesome family (who I am proud to call my friends) came in and
were approved to adopt the other dog from the shelter. My life changed from
that day on. Ralphie became known throughout the world from an email that
someone composed about that particular rescue trip. When people found out he
was mine, I would hear stories about he touched people's lives. He did that
where ever he went. You could just see how, somehow, he touched people's
souls. An educational publishing company actually came to me and used
Ralphie's story in a textbook. They were touched by him and had never ever met
him. Ralphie obviously had a hard life. He was heartworm positive and had
arthritis. I love all of my dogs, but Ralphie, I believe, was a gift God gave
me. The joy on his face when he saw a group of people, when he was running in
circle in the backyard, or rolling around in the grass made me feel like I was
the luckiest person in the world to have him in my life. If there was a group
of people, Ralphie would walk right up to them and start nudging their hands,
amazed that they weren't already petting him. An animal communicator after
talking to him, broke down in tears and called our relationship, "magical" and
that was something very special about this boy. Shoot, I already knew that.
Ralphie has lost use of his back legs due to the arthritis. I hate that he
can't run around in the yard anymore. I don't believe he got to do that before
his life with me. My vet thinks Ralphie lived on a chain because of some
spinal issues he has. But, we are slowly trying to get him in a cart to get
him out "running" again. But, in the meantime, I carry him out to go outside,
and hold his hips so he can stand up to eat and drink water. And when he barks
obsessively at me, I help him jump up on the couch (shhh..he thinks he's doing
it on his own). I will continue to do that if I have to...its the least I can
do for all this amazing animal has given me. I don't know what I will do when
his time comes, but I do know, right now, each day is a gift with him.
