¨WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS!¨

"THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL¨

By: Karla Wagener (Written on November 1, 2019)

The World would never be the same without telling the story of Ulysses and Ruby!  For this reason I have decided to relate this incredible story of love and loyalty!

It all began a little at a time, of course, like most love stories begin.  A look!  A moment of encounter!  An outing!  It is hard to remember the exact moment this special relationship began.  Basically it happened on Saturdays when we all got together to sing Karaoke. 

Of course, Ruby was beautiful, with shiny red fur and elegant and well trained.   The people who saw her used to say, ¨she doesn´t just walk, she models down the avenue¨!

One day Ana brought Ulysses to meet Ruby.  This happened long before the afternoons of Karaoke.  Ulysses was still just a puppy!  They were excited about the outing, the freedom, an adventure outside the home, going to the park.  They didn´t really seem to pay attention to each other at that moment.  They did gallop around the park, played in the free, fresh air, and sniffed everything they could find.  They ran close to their owners, without much confidence still at that first encounter.

Ulysses was unkempt, shaggy, but full of energy and willing to make a special relationship!  It was all similar to ¨Lady and the Tramp¨ except that they both had loving families and shared with them like one more member of the family.  Later, Ruby started coming with her owner to afternoon Karaoke at Ulysses´ house.  Ulysses was excited and desired Ruby´s attention.  He followed her around all over the house as she investigated and smelled every detail!  Steve, Ana´s son, gave Ruby food and even attention, but Ruby was indifferent and only thought of the food! 

Ruby was anxious, however, and Ulysses didn´t know how to receive her, or how to please her.  He gave her free reign and allowed her to go and do whatever she liked.

The second time Ruby went to see Ulysses she was more relaxed.  She actually noticed Ulysses and they began to build a friendship. 

The third visit was more disastrous.  Ruby smiled with a huge, wide smile and was happier than she had been in months!  Not only was this a familiar place, but there was food, affection and a lover who followed her around smelling her behind and totally infatuated with her!  They began getting into trouble, tearing dog toys apart and looking into everything, every corner of the house.

Ruby was in bliss, and jumped up and down to show her joy to Steve and his brother, Matias.

Then Ulysses came close to Ruby´s owner and did not let Ruby get near.  Ruby didn´t seem to notice and kept sniffing all the Peruvian smells, rice, ceviche, avocados, lemon, and cilantro.  ¨Food¨, she must have thought.

Suddenly, Ruby´s owner screamed out ¨Ulysses peed on my foot¨.  Ulysses, in his excitement and happiness had peed on the owner´s shoe.  What a disaster!  It all ended with a big laugh and water and detergent!  Ana joked, ¨It was time to clean the floor¨.

The great love affair of Ruby and Ulysses, both characters who had particular and special traits, kept developing.  Despite all the work to care for them, it is well known that pets help us live longer and especially give a better quality of life. 

Everyone who dropped by on Saturday attested to the events and positive energy.  People dropped in and out as Karaoke, coffee and cookies went around.  Ana´s sons were usually there; nephews and nieces came and went, Aunts, an uncle or two and perhaps a weary friend who happened to be in the neighborhood.  The neighbors began to complain about the noise, but it was the mixture of smells that they really couldn´t tolerate, dog smells, etc. It was something else that really made them complain.  They really wanted us to invite them to enjoy the afternoon with us.

Time went by and Ruby and Ulysses began to know each other better.  Ulysses kept peeing on the floor every time he saw Ruby.  Ana would laugh and say, ¨Time to wash the floor again¨. Ruby could care less and seemed only interested in smelling for food and gobbling up what she could.  At some moment Ulysses tired of this situation and decided to go up the stairs to the terrace where her true owner stayed.  He went with Alicia.  He barked to Ruby to follow him and tried to get Ruby to go up.  Ruby nonchalantly looked around as if she wasn´t paying attention and was dead set to stay down stairs where the food was.  She sat down beside the table where possibly a nib of food would fall and her owner sat.  It seemed as if they both had a battle over who would dominate.

However, on the next visit a neighbor dog, Pipa, a male, came by to the house.  He was Ana´s sister, Rosemary´s dog.  They lived next door.  Of course, he fell for Ruby immediately and Ulysses did not like that.  Ulysses came down stairs to protect his interests.  Ruby tried to keep at a distance from them both, hiding under the table and protected by the legs of the people gathered there.

Pipa stayed just outside of the table without moving an inch and sat there like a marble poodle statue staring at Ruby.  Ulysses was more confident and went about his business; sure that Ruby´s fidelity was his.  ¨Ruby and he had a history¨, he must have thought.  They had gone to the park when he was just a puppy and after all this was HIS house, his people.  Without Ruby there he didn´t even allow Pipa in, but to show his good manners he conceded to this intrusion.

Time passed by and Ruby´s tummy grew and it wasn´t because of all of the food Steve had given her!  She was to have puppies!  ¨But she is castrated¨, her owner exclaimed.  It seems the castration had not been done quite correctly.

Ana, Alicia and the rest of the crew were too busy laughing, singing, drinking coffee and chatting to watch over the dogs and the dogs socialized unwatched.  The children had been busy playing and Ruby´s owner was sure she was castrated!

What a surprise the day the puppies arrived!  Two were golden haired with cream colored  spots, exactly like Ulysses and one was a white poodle just like Pipa!  Oh, what a shame!  Ruby could not decide between the two!  She loved them both, Ulysses as well as Pipa!

Soon after the puppies were born the teenage nieces and their mischievous friend, Joyce, decided to go ¨Tee Peeing¨.  Of course, any young person in those days knew what ¨tee peeing¨ was.  It consisted of a person taking many rolls of toilet paper (T.P.) and throwing it up and down and all about the trees of an unsuspected person´s trees.  They decided to ¨Tee Pee¨ the trees at the house of the neighbor who had been unkind to the dogs and had complained.  ¨They make too much noise¨.  ¨They are a bother¨.  ¨The smells from those dogs is intolerable¨,  they had complained.

So one night at 2:00 a.m. the three adventurers snuck into the cabinet where Ana kept the toilet paper.  There were white rolls, 30 meter rolls, flowered patterned rolls, perfumed ones and even 60 and 80 meter rolls.  Ana had bought them at a discount.  The girls gathered as much as they could handle in a big black plastic bag and sneaked away into the night through an open window in the living room.

When they got to the neighbor´s house they were scared.  A few cars were passing by.  Joyce screamed ¨Get down¨!  ¨ Let´s hide under this big pine¨!

They all stooped down and covered their mouths.  Not a sound could be heard.  The pine tree smelled so good, so clean that they could have fallen asleep if they were not so scared and their knees didn´t hurt so much.  They were all cramped together in that small space.

Then, little by little, they got up and began the work.  They threw the toilet paper up into the pine trees.  It fell down, curling amidst the branches.  They twisted the paper about the lower branches and threw the rolls up again and again to cover all of the three trees in the yard.

A light came on!  Someone had heard their noise.  They quietly hid under the branches of the pine until the light went out again.  All of the cars were gone.  No one was in sight.

Suddenly, at that very moment Enrique arrived in his station wagon.  ¨Get in¨!  ¨Get in¨, he whispered.  ¨The dogs were making so much noise I had to bring them to find you¨.  ¨They missed you and began to bark and make noise¨.

The girls peeked out, bent over and sore from their squatted positions, and got into Enrique´s spacious car, trying to quiet the noisy dogs.  Actually, in truth, Enrique did all of this for the sole reason of getting into the story!  He is continually trying to get into these stories about Ruby and her dog friends!

The next morning as the three friends walked to school they saw the neighbors angrily cleaning up the mess.

Later, after a heartfelt confession from the girls while the puppies barked in the distance, the neighbors also confessed the puppies were very cute and asked for one.  They no longer were traumatized by the barking and smells!  In fact, they admitted that they had complained about

 the noise and smells with the hope of being able to share in the Saturday afternoon activities!  And so it was that friendships were made that would last long into old age!