Probably the strangest story I ever wrote

The best place to begin is at the beginning.
 
My big boy Ruffin was born on November 13, 2006 in Sharonville, Ohio and passed away in his sleep on August 23, 2018 in his home in Independence, Kentucky where he lived all his life. During his lifetime we became more than best friends forever. From the moment he licked my nose when I picked him up out of his whelping box he stole my heart. And every day of his life we gave each other hugs and kisses. To say that we bonded together during his almost 12 years on the Earth doesn't completely explain how much love we had for each other.

During Ruffin's life in our home he was a witness to much sickness and death. When we brought him to his new home he was introduced to his new family, Mocha and Sassy my two female Rottweilers. Sassy, who was four years old became Ruff's foster mother and because they were so close later on they fell in love. And when Sassy died in 2014 Ruffin was heartbroken and mourned her loss for months. During this time my beloved Jacqueline was fighting a losing battle against Alzheimer's and I was drawing upon the compassion of my two Rottweilers to help me deal with this. Two years after Sassy died I underwent months of treatment for Prostate Cancer. This was followed by Ruffin's loss of eyesight and his own treatment for cancer and dealing with his total blindness. I was Ruffin's rock, his anchor, his safe place. Every single day he would come to me on numerous occasions to get hugs and kisses. He needed his batteries recharged frequently. All this time we became closer and closer together. We became inseparable.

Then last month I had to go into the hospital with heart problems. I was so fortunate to have met a wonderful Christian woman from a local church who came to my home to take care of Bessie and Ruff. But still, Ruff missed me and it began to affect his health. On the 3th day I was hospitalized the woman told me Ruff had stopped eating. He missed me and probably thought I was never coming back. The next day they implanted a pacemaker and on the 5th day I told them I couldn't stay any longer so I came home. When I walked in the house Ruff heard my voice and came out of the bedroom to greet me. We hugged and kissed for a long time and I told him how much I loved him and missed him. That night Ruffin ate his entire dinner and seemed to be back to his old self. The next day he stopped eating again and I became worried and took him to our Vet. Dr. Black was Ruff's favorite lady doctor and he always greeted her with kisses. This time he didn't move off the floor in the exam room and she said to me, "He must really be sick if he didn't give me any kisses." She did a thorough exam, took x-rays and an ultrasound and didn't offer any clues to his problem and sent him home with me. Whether she suspected anything I will never know because if she had suggested keeping him overnight for observation, Ruff would have died alone in a cage instead of next to me in his home. Several friends pointed out that Ruffin was holding on waiting for my return home before he died.

In the last 23 years I have owned 7 Rottweilers and faced the hardest part of saying good bye when 5 of them passed away. But I felt a strange difference in the days after Ruff was gone. It was not the great feeling of grief one would get over the death of a very close friend. It didn't occur to me right away but later I started feeling like Ruff had not gone too far away.

After the surgeon implanted the pacemaker he said to me, "You will live for another 20 years." I said, great, this gives me time to have one more Rottweiler. And I started letting people know I was looking on Facebook. Within days a friend alerted me to a notice posted by Pawsitive Warriors Rescue of New Carlisle, Ohio, about 100 miles north. They had a 15 month old male Rottweiler who was just given to them for a new home. My first impression was he looked like Ruff. And somehow, someway, I began to think my best friend Ruff was still looking over me and knowing that I needed this new friend.

It has now been one full week since the rescue group drove down here and delivered Griffin (Bruno). I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. He was more beautiful than his pictures. It didn't take Bessie too long to start up a friendship, either. She seems to be trying to be the pack leader and girlfriend/playmate at the same time. Today she was all playmate when they were outside and she seemed to be coming to life enjoying her new friend. And I am beginning to notice some peculiar personality traits with Griffin that bear an uncanny resemblance to Ruffin.

Tonight I had a strange thought about Griffin. I wondered where he came from. I reached out to the rescue group and wrote them: "you mentioned when you delivered (Bruno) Griffin that you thought you had a copy of his pedigree. I am very much interested in seeing it if you can locate it. FYI my big boy Ruffin was born in Sharonville, Ohio and there have been several times that (Bruno) has shown me personality traits identical to Ruffin and as strange as this seems it is not beyond the realm of possibility that (Bruno) might be an offspring of one of Ruffin's siblings. And besides, (Bruno) even looks a bit like Ruff, too. I have Ruff's pedigree and would like to compare them."

And I sent another message to Theresa Howard, the ARC Certified Breeder who had bred Ruffin at her home. Theresa and her husband came to my home last year for a visit and to see Ruffin. It was the first time she had seen him in 11 years.

Hi, Theresa, you have not yet met my newest addition to our family but when you do I think you may be surprised. I have begun to see several personality traits in Griffin that remind me of Ruffin, not to say the least they look alike. I have sent a request to the lady who runs the rescue group in New Carlisle, Ohio to see if she can locate the pedigree for Griffin. She told me that she had it when she got him. I am wondering if you still have the names of the people who purchased the other Rottie pups from Ruffin's litter? I think there is a slight chance that Griffin may be an offspring from one of them.

Now we wait. One thing in my favor is there are not too many Rottweiler breeders in southern Ohio so that works in my favor. Wouldn't it be a wonderful coincidence if Griffin turned out to be an offspring from one of Ruff's brothers or sisters? It would be like Ruffin found a way to come back to me. That's what true love is all about.

I was never able to examine Griffin's pedigree but I did learn one more amazing fact. And the more I keep thinking about it the more I believe someone upstairs is watching over me. The woman who runs the Pawsitive Warriors Rescue group told me that Griffin was surrendered to them for adoption on August 22nd which was the day before Ruffin died. And I am wondering if my best friend Ruff had anything to do with arranging his replacement.