Ralph loved people, walks, food, toys, mischief, everything really. He found a chicken bone on our first walk, ate the sofa when he couldn’t reach his boney (that he put up there mind you), pushed a puppy out of the way to get her pink princess bone, threw himself in a tantrum on his beds when they were to be cleaned, the list goes on. To some he was crippled/broken, but to me he was exceptional in his resilience and capacity to love and enjoy life. I honestly cannot imagine him with four working legs. No one would have been able to keep up. Sometimes, I think, his handicap got the better of him and would manifest itself as anxiety or aggression. It pains me that I may have misunderstood him. His favorite thing was to be treated like a baby and he loved to fall asleep cradled along side of me on the sofa.

 

I feel so lucky to have been able to spend so many years with him, to have so many memories together, and to have so many people who love him as I do. I remember meeting a man at a rest stop who was so pleased to see Ralph in his cart because the man had recently been in a wheelchair. Ralph touched everyone with his energy and enthusiasm. I miss him and will always. He was the heart and soul of this home.

 

-Debra Sarr