Inspiring Encounter

On Yesterday, while walking, I had an inspiring encounter with a lady and her dog. The dog steadily approached towards me, and guarded, as everyone should, I slowed down and kept my distance, however the lady, named Ruth assured me that Tyler was very friendly, and I eventually was able to greet him and rub the back of his head.

The conversation led to me learning about how Tyler was discovered at 4 weeks old in a trash bag along with another sibling. The year was 2007. That year Ruth and her husband had just put down a previous dog they owned and they vowed not to have another dog. As fate would have it, her daughter brought home Tyler, and the rest was history.

Well, the story doesn't end yet...so Ruth, during this same time period, was battling breast cancer and had a significant ordeal...27 radiation treatments and 4 chemo treatments.

She is cancer free now.

In 2011, her husband died, and if it were not for Tyler, she said that she doesn't know that she would have survived this long. Tyler has survived 13 human years, and is now suffering from liver disease and arthritis. She is now caring for him, as he cared and protected her since the loss of her husband.

She was recently in conversation with someone and was wondering if she was cursed, having had an apparently difficult battle with this thing called life.

It was my turn to respond by sharing with her how I felt that she was blessed to have survived so much and still holding on. She agreed and thanked me for those words of encouragement.

Chance encounter? Maybe, maybe not...certainly not a coincidence!