for those of u that know him RDOGG has passed away - Page 39

davhaf · #**951** 01-19-2008, 09:23 AM

Thanks for posting that CG...nice article.

TTB · #**952** 01-19-2008, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davhaf

Thanks for posting that CG...nice article.

++

Thanks CG.

Bleacher Creature · #**953** 01-19-2008, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TTB

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Thanks CG.

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And also to Mr. McClellan.

davhaf · #**954** 01-19-2008, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bleacher Creature

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And also to Mr. McClellan.

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jhuegy · #**955** 01-19-2008, 10:53 AM

That was wonderful. We're really going to miss that guy. Thanks Cardinalgirl. I'm just glad to say I met dogg and he was a great guy. For once I'm at a loss for words.

jhanke · #**956** 01-19-2008, 10:55 AM

That was a nice article.

For those who wish to read it here

Quote:

Strangers give man new hope, then fate steps in
By Bill McClellan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Sunday, Jan. 20 2008

I returned from vacation on Jan. 4 and started reading the e-mails that had
accumulated in my absence. I read them chronologically. The first batch was
from before Christmas. One was from Michael Halwe. He had written a note at
5:51 a.m. on Christmas Eve. He said he had just read that morning's column — it
was about him — and he liked it. Except I had gotten the sex of one of his dogs
wrong. I had referred to Magic as "he."

"I now have 98 pounds of upset FEmale Labrador," he wrote. On a more serious
note, he had good news. "The state of Missouri has determined that I am
disabled. I got the letter Saturday."

That news fell into the category of good things happening to good people. Halwe
was a bowler. He had competed on the regional tour. Then he managed a couple of
bowling centers — "Don't call them bowling alleys!" — and then he worked for,
and eventually bought, a company that sold bowling balls, shoes, bags and so
on. The company was not doing well. People were going on the Internet and
buying directly from the manufacturers. Because his company was crumbling, he
had no health insurance. He had serious health problems and had suffered two
heart attacks early last year. He was 49 years old.

Things went from bad to worse. In late October, he was about to lose his house.
He was desperate. He had no family — just two dogs. "I have no idea where my
dogs and I will be going," he wrote me in an e-mail. He did not respond to
e-mails, and his phone seemed to be out of service. I heard from him again in
early December. "I've been saved," he said.

A fellow dog owner had saved him. One of his dogs was a bearded collie, and
Michael was active in the bearded collie world. He did volunteer work for
bearded collie rescue — his own bearded collie, Morgan, had come from the
Humane Society — and he was a regular at the bearded collie camp held every
other year at Purina Farms in Gray Summit. He chatted regularly with other
bearded collie owners on the Internet. During one of these chats, he mentioned
his problems to Larry Abramson of Olive Branch, Miss. Two days later, a bearded
collie owner from Kentucky contacted Halwe. "How much do you need?" she asked.
"Could I borrow $2,000?" he responded. "No, I'll give you $2,000," she said.
She did.

Halwe used that to stave off the foreclosure. He was optimistic about his
pending application for disability. "I think I'm going to make it," he told me.

That was the Christmas Eve column. The kindness of strangers.

I was glad to see that Halwe liked the column. And his disability had been
approved. That was good news. I continued going through the e-mails. I came to
January 3rd. Several people sent me the same message. "Michael Halwe had a
heart attack and died."

I went back and read the Christmas Eve e-mail. Also, another e-mail Halwe had
sent two days earlier, shortly after I had last met with him. He said some
Internet friends from a sports chat room had collected money for him, too. "All
of this is almost too much to imagine," he wrote. "I'm a very introverted cynic
who has always believed that the milk of human kindness was way past its
expiration date. For people who don't even know me to help, it just overwhelms
me."

That was a nice thought. Life was not always kind to Halwe. His wife died in an
auto accident years ago. His only sibling died of cancer. His own health went
bad so early. But at the end, things seemed to be breaking his way. That's
something.

After Halwe's death, friends put his two dogs in a kennel. They were hoping to
find somebody who would adopt them together — a 13-year-old bearded collie and
a 9-year-old Lab with epilepsy.

But one week after Halwe's death, the bearded collie died. A friend of
Michael's sent me an e-mail. "A front leg was swollen twice its normal size. He
couldn't walk on his back legs at all. The doctor suspected bone cancer. It was
time to let him go. Morgan will be cremated and will be laid to rest with his
beloved Michael."

Halwe's friends had a memorial service for him on Monday. Nearly 100 people
attended. Some were from his bowling life. Some knew him from the Internet.
Others were from the world of bearded collies. Everybody talked about his sense
of humor, and the way he persevered even when things didn't go well. A friend
who helped him publish a book of poetry read some of his poems.

One of Halwe's friends approached me at the service. "If you write something,
could you mention that Magic needs a home? We have a benefactor who will pay
for her medication."

Sure, I said.

By the way, Magic turned 9 on Christmas Eve. Halwe wrote an e-mail about that,
too. "As she's gotten older, the white mascara on her black face keeps creeping
further around her eyes. She has white eyelashes! She realizes that Morgan is
getting feeble and she tries to help him along. The epilepsy hasn't seemed to
affect her outlook on life. She's still the happy-go-lucky Labrador that I
brought home nine years ago. Happy birthday, Magic. Hope we both have nine
more."

Might be time to send this one off to the HOF.

**007** · #**957** 01-19-2008, 02:53 PM

It's time...time to lock it up and send it to the Hall of Fame...

View Poll Results: Do you plan on attending the memorial services Monday?
Yes	13	48.15%
No	14	51.85%
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