Half a Million Ransom in my Blood Line ...

"I just want people to know my history" ! quips Ruby Thursday from her porch on Wednesday.

I used to work for a man in Houston named Grant who owned a beautiful German Shepherd named Sammy. Sammy was given to Grant by Tina, his ex girlfriend, when they parted ways. A few years down the road Grant was diagnosed with cancer and T moved he and Sammy into her home. It was then that I began working for Grant, managing his interests in the oil business as well as his insurance matters.

The day Grant was released from MD Anderson after having a tumor removed from his brain, he and T flew to Las Vegas to be married. He named her as his beneficiary of an investment account that had $500,000 in it. Things did not go so well between them or with Grant's health and he took T off of the account. The night before he was to leave Houston for Boca Raton, Florida to be near his family and live out the remaining months of his life, T kidnapped Sammy. The ransom was the half a million dollars in the Aegis account. I did not know where Sammy was hidden but in tears I begged T to return her to Grant. She would not, and Grant told her she could keep the F ing dog because he wasn't giving her the $500,000. Grant left town the next morning with his son, and headed to Florida.

Two weeks later, during the night, our phone rang and it was T. She had had quite a few cocktails and said I could come get Sammy. And so I did. The next morning Sammy and I left on a road trip for Boca Raton. I shared my Subway tuna sandwich with her and our friendship was sealed. We spent the night in Tallahassee with Ron's sister, Karen, and arrived at Grant's the next day.

Grant lived another 9 months, with Sammy at his side when he passed away. Two days later Sammy flew back to Houston on Continental Airlines. Grant wanted us to have her when he died. Ron and I were at Freight Claim when her kennel came down the shoot. Around her neck was a bright purple bandana decorated with little white dog bones. We left the airport wondering what we had gotten ourselves into, but it all worked out. Our cats, Cubbie and Lucy, lived in the laundry room for several months, but eventually got over it.

We had Sammy for about 5 years before she came down with an illness and we had to put her to sleep. It was a Thursday and that's why Ruby is Ruby Thursday and not Ruby Tuesday. I cried all the way to Montrose Veterinary Clinic that I would NEVER have a dog again, that I would NEVER let myself get that close to an animal again, that I would NEVER put myself through that again. Saturday morning I woke Ron up at 7:00. I remember the house feeling soooooo empty without her. I asked Ron if we could go to the Kennel, Heidelberg, in Spring, Texas where Sammy was from. He wanted to know if I was crazy. I said yes, we got dressed, and headed north.

We picked out two 4 month old puppies that we liked the best, but one of them was really growing on us. She behaved as if she was already ours, and of course she was. As it turned out, her father was Sammy's nephew. And that is the story of the $500,000 in Ruby's blood line!

I should mention that not too long ago T was accused of tampering with evidence in her ex brother in law's murder trial. The charges were dropped, but her sister is now serving a life term after having been found guilty of the murder. Apparently P dressed up like T and traveled to his home state, hid behind a tree and ambushed him when he came out to get his morning paper. T supposedly went to P's house and got the gun and the wig and hid them. During the trial, P said some things that indicated T may have been the guilty one. I don't think anyone is really sure ... and don't I lead a life full of interesting characters ?