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Animals…Our Teachers

Jun
11
Posted in Uncategorized | June 11th, 2010
I just
had to share this with you…it brought tears to my eyes.
VERY SHORT STORY…AFTER
A TORNADO

 

Photobucket
The story
begins with the rescuers finding this poor little guy they named Ralphie
Someone had
already taken him under their wing but weren’t equipped to adopt;
Photobucket Ralphie, scared and starved, joined his rescuers…
Photobucket
I wouldn’t
think anything could live thru this…But we were wrong.
Photobucket
This little
lady also survived that wreckage. Photobucket
Here she is
just placed in the car – scared, but safe. Photobucket
And then..they
are no longer alone! Photobucket
Instant
friends, they comforted each other while in the car.
Photobucket
Add two more
beagles found after that…
The more, the
merrier!
Photobucket
Oh boy, a new
traveler to add to the mix…
(note: the cat
coming over the seat needing shelter… Now just how is this going to work???
(and remember they are all strange to one another ) Photobucket
It’s going to
work just fine, thank you very much!
Photobucket

Wow! The things
we learn from our animal friends… If only all of mankind could learn such
valuable lessons as this. Lessons of instant friendship.. Of peace and
harmony

By way of
respect for one another — no matter one’s color or creed. These
animals tell you… “It’s just good to be alive and with others.” Yes, it surely
is.
So… Live,
love, laugh. ====================================
I found a post from the person who
took these pictures I would like to add it.
Now you will know the rest of
the story…. so to speak.
======================================
June 2010, 02:52 AMLocation: Grayslake, IL
Posts:
1
Default Ralphie after Hurricane Katrina
Hi…yes this was my rescue.
Actually, these are my photos. I took a couple of thousand of pictures after
Katrina while I was doing animal rescue in MS and LA. I was down for nine weeks.
While I was down doing this rescue in Pass Christian, MS, over a period of a
weeks time, I would upload pictures onto my flickr website. At some point, while
I was down there, someone took some of my photos and put them into a wonderful
email about Ralphie, the beagles, and the cats and friendship. Somehow it got
changed to the tornado. I dont know who put this email together but I wish I
could thank them. These animals were supposed to the shelter that I worked with
and were supposed to be adopted out.I couldnt bare to let Ralphie and the three
adult beagles (Hope, Clarence, Wiggins) leave my home. I ended up adopting them.
Hope was pregnat (we didnt know it when she was rescued) and had a litter of
wonderful puppies. Ralphie became my best friend in the world. There was
something about him that touched everyone that met him. I lost Ralpie this past
March. I have a huge hole in my heart. He was an amazing dog that, most likely,
touches everyone that sees this email. Here are some pictures of Ralphie and the
beagles
www.flickr.com/photos/danakay…7594054088045/

Here is a bit of an
idea of what life was like with Ralphie
www.flickr.com/photos/danakay…7623729700000/ 

Ralphie lost the use
of his back legs, from severe arthritis, about two years ago. The last 9mths or
so of his life, I either carried him, he walked in his cart, or rode in his red
wagon. In July of 09, he was extremely sick and they didnt expect him to make
it. He pulled through. This last time, in March 2010, it was his time. I wish I
could share, with all of you, the love that this dog brought into my life. He
was my friend and my hero. Here is what someone wrote about my Ralphie:
Like
so many of his fellow Katrina survivors, Ralphie’s early life is an unknown,
washed away in the flood. Soaked in contaminated water and covered with oil and
dirt when he was found, his beautiful coat had to be shaved before he was turned
over to one of the groups there to rescue the storm’s animal victims – and met
Dana. The plan had been for him to be re-homed if his former family couldn’t be
located, but with his innocent charm, handsome face, and deep old-soul wise eyes
he quickly captured her heart and when no one stepped forward to claim him
Ralphie had a new Mom. Devastation, compassion and courage had brought them
together; only death would ever separate
them.
My own first meeting
with Ralphie happened about a year later; the circumstances were much less
dramatic. Dana brought him to a fundraising walk for a shelter where I was
massaging the dogs, and they stopped by for a few minutes. The visit was
pleasantly unremarkable from my point of view; Dana told me later that he had
“not wanted to leave”. Were these simple happy endings all there was to his tale
it would be worth telling, but the serendipity that brought Ralphie and Dana
together has had an impact on the lives of countless other animals, and there is
more to the stroy.
How many Ralphie
inspired to action and how many lives have been changed or saved as a result is
uncertain; that he was inspirational is not. The effect he had on people was
almost magical; there was a special quality that drew them to him. This was
something that never faltered; whether he was walking, in his wheelchair, or in
one of his wagons he would always draw a crowd, giving Dana a larger and more
attentive audience for both his own story and her messages of adoption and
proper care and treatment for animals. His photogenic face and his Mom’s skill
with a camera made him a widely recognized, if unofficial, symbol and mascot for
the thing that brought them together – animal rescue and
re-homing.
Fairy tales end with
‘happily ever after’ and for some time it was that way for Ralphie: he had beds
in the house, great food and treats, a yard for playing, and best of all a Mom
who loved him as much as he adored her. He also had a family: little brother
Jake and sister Allie, and big brother/guardian angel Alex. What he didn’t have
was forever. Age with rescues is an estimate; Ralphie’s made him senior
bordering on elderly, succeptible to arthritis and its complications. These
began to affect his back, gradually robbing him of the use of his hind legs.
What his increasing physical limitations didn’t take away was his joy for living
- or his quality of life,thanks to the incredible love, devotion, and care he
got from his Mom. Losing sleep as his became erratic, limiting her social
interaction to spend more time with him, and taking him to work and everywhere
else she went became just routine parts of life as his needs increased and he
demanded more attention.
Ralphie K. Mattox
Deutsch crossed the Rainbow Bridge March 27, 2010. It was my privilege and
pleasure to assist in his care for the last several months of his life. I loved
him as one of my own, and I will miss
him.
W Bruce Bregenzer

 

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