by Michael Mayes

Created on: December 31, 2008

I'm really not an overly sentimental guy. While time and a couple of beautiful daughters have softened me up some, I still don't get misty eyed over Hallmark commercials or Meg Ryan movies. I guess I never will be that "modern" man who is in touch with his "feminine side", whatever that means. However, from time to time, I will see or hear something that gets to me. Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like I saw something special.

I had just finished gassing up my truck when I noticed a couple of dogs across the road. They were both clearly mutts. They were shaggy and looked like they were probably strays. The first was a medium sized dog. He was not as big as a lab but not too far from it. He had a lot of energy and would run ahead of the other dog before stopping and running back. The second dog was considerably smaller than the first. He might have been the size of a cocker spaniel. One thing I did see was that the smaller dog was not healthy. He was limping noticeably and did not appear well at all. Once the pair reached the side of the road, the smaller dog stopped and sat down and patiently watched his larger more energetic friend sniff around the shoulder of the road.

I don't know what it was about these dogs that caused me to pause and watch them. I do know I felt some trepidation as I figured they were about to try and cross the road. This particular stretch of road is very busy. It is four lanes wide and, as usual, folks were whizzing by in both directions at fifty to sixty miles per hour. I really hoped I wasn't about to see them get hurt or killed.

For just a moment it seemed they were going to be content to sit and watch the cars go by. The larger of the two had returned to sit by his friend and I hoped that they would sense this was not a good time to cross the road and go back in the direction from which they had come. That was not to be, however. For no apparent reason, they decided that it was time to cross the road. The pair bolted in unison into the heavy traffic. The smaller dog seemed to know right away he was not going to make it. He got about halfway across the first lane of traffic before he stopped, nearly getting hit by a pick-up truck, and retreated back to the shoulder of the road. The larger dog, apparently not realizing his partner was no longer with him, bobbed and weaved his way through the traffic and somehow managed to cross all four lanes without being hit. I was greatly relieved to see that both dogs were ok and started

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