This
Weeks Story
January
22 , 2001
"Tuff
Love"
Coming back
from oh so long ago
to save his master
from impending disaster
A Second Encounter
from
Joe McKenzie
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from Joe McKenzie
Hailing From: Calhoun, GA
Where it Happened: At Home one night late
Please do not read this story if you are prone to nightmares during rainstorms. However, if you truly believe in a life after death, you may come to appreciate this tale. I have never seen anything "ghostly" in my life. And even though I do not dismiss encounters of a spectral sort out of hand, I, nevertheless tend to take these stories with a grain of salt and an ounce of skepticism.
It was during one stormy night that I found myself and my wife peacefully sleeping in bed. This was during the tornado season, but having grown up in this type of weather, I rarely react to anything short of a tornado warning. Since my bedside weather-tracker was silent, I was able to go to bed with a secure feeling.
Around 2:00 in the morning, I was rudely awakened by my dog, Tuffy, who had jumped up on the bed whining and licking my face. Tuffy is a half-collie, half-German Shephard that I had grown extremely close. Tuffy did not like any type of bad weather and would always jump in the bed at the slightest hint of thunder whining, licking my face, and asking to be petted.
Coming out of a deep sleep, I began to try to soothe Tuffy by scratching his ear and talking to him when it slowly began to dawn on me that Tuffy died when I was 14 years old! The realization hit me like a brick. I jumped out of bed and turned on the lights, waking up my wife in the process.
"What's wrong?" asked my wife as she got out of bed and began to put on her robe.
I mumbled some excuse about a bad dream. There were no dogs anywhere in the room, but there were wet paw prints on the floor leading to the window. Our bedroom is on the second floor and the window was securely latched shut. Eyeing me suspiciously, my wife suggested that we go downstairs and drink some hot cocoa so I could tell her about the dream.
As we were walking down the stairs, the entire stairway shook as a loud, thunderous roar engulfed the entire house. Confused at first, I ran upstairs to get my flashlight when I was shocked at the sight in my bedroom. The pine tree in our front yard had fallen onto the house destroying the front part of the building! More ghastly was the sight of a large, jagged tree branch sticking into the bed. The branch had impaled a 6-inch diameter hole right through the bed into the floor. Had I been sleeping in bed at that moment, that branch would have impaled me right through the chest!
What did I see that night? Was it a dream, a ghostly encounter, my guardian spirit? Who knows? All I know is this: I am alive today because of a nervous dog who did not like bad weather.
Thank you Tuffy, wherever you are.
Thanks, Joe, for not one, but two really great personal encounters!
I guess I have always wondered when I hear folks tell me that only people go to heaven. I believe that's just a rumor, or possibly mankind trying to believe that there's an exclusive club up yonder. But I think there is a great canine in heaven -- and I believe his name is Tuffy!
