Rudy (His full name is ‘Jose Rudy Robertavich Exum’) is  very lucky. We think he experienced ‘divine intervention’. Rudy thinks he is Doberman Pinscher, but he is all Chihuahua. He weighs 10 pounds (maybe more now), is black and tan with cute floppy ears.  
   He is the joy of my brother and his wife, commonly referred to as “ooour baaaby”, (unless someone gets mad at him).
   For two weeks he was a guest at our place since my sister in law was on a trip over seas and my brother was in the hospital. What happened was, Bob came over to pick up his breathing equipment, and when he left, Rudy decided to follow him on the road.  My wife ran after Rudy, but by the time she got to him, he had had his ‘brush with death’. In following Bob, a big truck came from behind Rudy and passed right over him. The wind draft from the truck knocked poor Rudy over on his face, causing him to bleed a bit. When my wife got to him, he was on his side, his legs were stiff and he was shaking, and his mouth bleeding. My wife called me, in tears, saying “Rudy was run over!!!” Well, Rudy survived somehow.
   What went through ‘Rudy’s’ mind as all this happened? Well, since I understand dog-language, we sat and had a man to dog talk, and he told me. “I sure have learned my lesson.” Of course I agreed with him, since it scared everyone. “What made you run after Bob?” I asked. Rudy said, “ I just love Bob.” I asked Rudy, “Do you hold this against Bob?” Rudy said,  “No, I forgive Bob for not seeing me, ‘cause I know he loves me.”
            We can learn a lot about life that will help us. Things like loyalty and faithfulness, love and forgiveness. These are important, but somehow, we miss them and some of life’s greatest blessings.
            Before I forget, while Rudy was staying with us, he and Little Bit (our Datshund) made friends. It took some time to get over the territorial challenges, but they seemed to make a secret ‘pact’ to co-operate and ‘deal with’ Molly (our cat). You may remember Molly from articles that dad wrote. Anyway, they worked together to ‘play’ with Molly. She did not appreciate this at all. They were not allowed to be rough, but ‘they had fun’. Molly would have her ‘sweet revenge’ as well. She would sneak up from behind Rudy, or Little Bit, and pounce on their backs. Rudy lost a pound and a half during the two weeks, running after Molly, but gained it back when he went home! Overall, it was a good two weeks that we all enjoyed.
            In the end when we had to give him back to Bob and Sveta, it was a bit difficult, but now when we go and visit… Rudy always remembers us, and gives us a great welcome.
            Paul said “Love never fails” (I Corinthians 13:8). No, he wasn’t talking about pets, but for sure we can learn to love and forgive from them. Trust me, life will go better when we do.