A good name is more desirable than great riches .... —Proverbs 22:1 (niv)
My friend Kathy called early one morning because she knows I am a dog person. “I heard about a boy at Children’s Hospital who’s dying of cancer, and all he wants is a little yellow puppy,” she told me.
With that, we were off and running to fulfill this little boy’s wish. We found a breeder who offered us a sweet eight-week-old golden retriever puppy she couldn’t sell because she had “cloudy eyes,” which would diminish her vision all her life.
The next day, Kathy and I went to the hospital and a nurse wheeled this young boy out the front doors and into the sunshine where we placed the puppy on his lap. The boy smiled and stroked the puppy. “Chocolate,” he said. “Her name is Chocolate.”
We didn’t stay long. The boy tired easily. But we’ve been repeating these visits to the hospital regularly for several weeks. Sometimes the boy has the energy to enjoy the little yellow puppy. Other times he’s too uncomfortable. As playful as the puppy is, she seems to sense when to settle down and snuggle up with the boy.
We know these visits won’t last. Meanwhile, my family has also fallen in love with this little yellow puppy. The breeder called her Lucy. The little boy called her Chocolate, and then a few visits later he changed her name to Butterfly.
My daughter Kendall is giving the puppy a home and now we call her Roi, which in Hebrew means “God sees,” because this little puppy with vision problems seems to be guided by God to places where she can bring comfort and love.
