Ray gets Good Advice

Yesterday my friend Laura and I were taking Ray for a walk around the lake. A little girl on a bike was coming down the trail towards us. When she got close enough, she said, "Can I pet your dog?" "Of course!" I replied, "It would make his day if you pet him!" The little girl got off her bike and came up to Ray who, as usual, was beside himself with joy. "I have a dog," she said "He's an Airedale Terrier mix." She pointed down the trail. "Is he following you?" I asked. "My mom has him on a leash," she replied. By this time we could see her mom and her dog.

Ray was flopped over getting a belly rub when her mom came up with the dog. Ray, all excited that there was a little girl AND a dog, got up to sniff but missed the dog by about a foot. "Ray's blind," I told the little girl. Ray had decided the dog wasn't as interesting as his new friend and was getting more pets. The little girl (maybe 9 or 10 years old), looked Ray square in the face and said. "You're no different than anyone else. You can do anything you want." "She would know," said her mom. "She was born with only two chambers to her heart. There are supposed to be four. She's already had three open heart surgeries so that they can make her heart do the job of one with four chambers."

Ray could tell that his new friend was no different than anyone else and that she was doing what she wanted. She was giving him a great belly rub and rubbing his ears.