DWC HOME

I rescued Lucky off the street in Puerto Rico on May 10th, 2017. This picture was taken a few weeks after that. If I told someone who did not know this story, they would not believe it.

This beautiful boy in the picture is unimaginably strong, fast and smart. He’s also an escape artist as many of you remember. But, he always comes home because at the end of the day, Lucky and I really love each other. He usually pulled these antics when I left the house. Lucky has serious separation anxiety with me.

Then, I had to leave him behind in Puerto Rico for 6 months while I got set up in Florida. That did not help matters at all regarding his separation anxiety. Once I brought him over to the states, Lucky continued his escape artistry tactics in both of the houses we have lived in here in Florida.

About 2 months ago, he was surrounded by police on my front lawn and a big animal control truck was parked outside my house. I got hit with a citation, multiple warnings and neighbors who were pretty upset with me. Lucky has definitely accelerated the aging process for me.

But, I am reminded every night when he’s laying next to me, I will always be lucky in love with Lucky. This is a once in a lifetime love story.

Please remember to DriveWithCompassion. There are strays animals in the street.

You gotta love a woman who buys your mom and sister Christmas gifts and signs it from Santa.

I went to a midnight mass with my lady last night. The entire mass was in Spanish. It still might have been the coolest thing I have ever done in my ilfe. Yesterday morning I even went to my woman’s daughter’s cooking class at 10:00 am.

Am I Becoming a Domesticated Man? – Somebody call a doctor, lol. – I guess it’s true what they say: “The things we do for Love.”

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family out here.

Over the years I have given a lot of thought as to why Sunday is called “Sunday Funday.”

It’s not just because it’s a newspaper and coffee kind of day. Yes, that’s true. But that’s not all of it.

I really love Sundays and I finally understand why it’s such a fun day. Monday through Friday, it’s work work work. On Saturdays we catch up on personal responsibilities.

But on Sundays, we let imagination in the door and back into our lives. On Sundays, we get to be us again. The people we set out to be from the very beginning. Now is there a lot of freedom in that, or what?

If you’d like to hear the audio version of this message on the Dr. Harp Seal account on SoundCloud.

One of the founding principals of Marshall Arts is to use the enemy’s strength against them. Don’t try to out muscle someone stronger than you. Use their own weight against them. When your enemy is charging at you, step aside and push them in the direction they’re charging.

19 hijackers did just that using 4 planes and box cutters, and turned the 800 pound Gorilla upside down. They took down the Twin Towers, they severely damaged the Pentagon, and took a plane down in Philadelphia killing everyone on it. Not in a million years could anyone even dreamed that as a possibility. It was unthinkable and unimaginable.

Let’s remember, in February of 1993 there was a terrorist attack below the North Tower of the World Trade when a truck detonated killing 6 people and injuring 1000 people. A freaking disaster to say the least.

But that wasn’t good enough for the terrorists. And other terrorists organizations learned that traditional bombing attacks wasn’t going to work. NYC’s infrastructure was too strong.

So not only was 9/11 a life changing experience to the United States, but, it was a break-through for terrorists. They knew that success was found not by going up against the 800 pound Gorilla, but by going with him. Use their own strength against them.

Terrorists organizations having been practicing that same methodology here and around the world. The San Bernardino attack in California. Some of terrorists arrested in conjunction with that attack admitted they loved America’s loose gun laws. It was easy for them to kill a-lot of people. In July of 2016, a 31 year old terrorist took a rented cargo truck and ran over 86 people at a firework’s celebration. In October of 2017 in NYC, a terrorist sped down a bike-only path killing 8 people and injuring 11.

9/11 opened the floodgates of terrorism.

The take away for me is to be cognizant of my surroundings. If I’m in a crowded place, I am aware of that. I don’t get lost in the experience anymore. Same thing with concerts, which I don’t go to, but if I did, I’d have some safety rules for myself I did go them. Look at the Ariana Grande concert in May of 2017 at the Manchester Arena in England, a suicide bomber killed 19 People and injured 50.

My own personal timeline with the Twin Towers:

1. In 1975 I went to the Twin Towers with my father (hard-hat and all) as construction was in it’s final chapters. The landlords were inviting commercial real estate brokers to start marketing office space to their clients.

2. In 1994, I interviews with Wil Raub at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 103rd Floor. I did not get the job due to lack of experience. Wil was killed on September 11th, 2001. He was a nice man. He told me never offer to work for free on Wall Street.

3. I commuted through the Twin Towers to NJ everyday from 1995 util the summer of 2000. I spent a lot of time in those towers even on a social bases.

4. I lived at 300 Mercer street, a mile north of the towers when they were destroyed. I was never able to return home again. My apartment smelled like burnt rubber tires.

When I think of the B-line experience I had walking through the towers in 1976, to living near the towers when they fell on September, 11th, 2001 it all seems surreal. 19 years later surreal.

Thanks for reading

Labor Day is a federal holiday where we show our appreciation and respect for the American worker. We also recognize the American Labor Movement that has fought hard (and still does) for better wages, beniefts and working conditions for people all over the country.

Sammy always respected the working man. He, after all, was a working man himself. Sammy passed away on January 30th, 2020. He was my best friend and the love of my life for 15 years. And despite his passing, I will continue to include and write about him right here on DriveWithCompassion.com.

Happy Labor Day everyone.

Sometimes you just walk out of your house and your life changes forever. That’s what happened on May 10th, 2017 when I met Lucky on the street in Puerto Rico. From that moment on, I coudln’t remember my life before him.

It was a ordinary Wednesday evening on May 10th, 2017 in Puerto Rico. I was feeling kind of restless and hungy. So, I went to a local eatery for a sandwich. As I was eating I started gazing out the window very spaced out and preoccupied. I felt agitated and unsettled. I started realizing that I wanted out from the life that I was living at home. Then, I noticed this sweet boy in the picture with me living alone on the street.

I decided to buy him some food and sit down with him. I was so enamored with him that my head was spinning. Meeting this boy was a life changing experience for me. I pulled him off the street and had him boarded in a very fun place for 5 weeks. Every Saturday and Sunday I would go visit him. I started to realize that him and I are forever. So, I took him home and named him Lucky.

The truth is, the world wasn’t big enough for us to not find each other. This had to happen.

In September of 2017 Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico. As many of you might remember, I launched the “Lucky In Love Relief Fund for Stray Animals in Puerto Rico.” We raised $7,000 and bridged a fair amount of stray animals back to life.

When Patrick was killed in August of 2018, Lucky would press his head into my chest several times a day. He knew that’s where the pain was. He did the same when Sammy died on January 30th, 2020.

I’m so in love with Lucky that I coined the phrase and created a t-shirt that says “I Love My Dog Like A Crazy Potato.” And on the back of the t-shirt, it says “Love Doesn’t Have To Make Sense.

Six years ago I told the world “This is No Ordinary Love.” That still holds true today in 2023. I will always be lucky in love with Lucky.

That’s our story for tonight.

When you’re getting Flash Flood Warnings like this on Wednesday at 7:32 pm, and the water is right outside your front door, you better hope the rain stops. But, on Wednesday night, it continued for another 2 hours after the already 3 days of non-stop raining. The water eventually made its way into our house. It didn’t ask our permission. It just took over the entire house.

Wedneday night on April 12th was considered the rainiest day in Fort Lauerdale’s history. We live 20 minutes South of Fort Lauderdale also in Broward Country. The Fort Lauderdale airport was closed due to it being under water to the tune of 25 inches. My phone was blowing up with Flash Flood Warnings and messages like in the above picture. Cars were floating everywhere. Even SUV’s went down for the count.

The messages were letting us know this is a dangerous and life threatening situation. The following sentence in the message was referring to possible evacuation orders. That is the one that had me deeply concerned. Between my mother that can’t walk, my disabled sister and my 7 dogs, I would’ve had to decline an evacuation order. It literally would not have been possible.

This rainstorm brought me back to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and Hurriane Sandy in New York and New Jersey. Natural disasters are always very dangerous. No question about it. But, it’s the floods that take people’s lives and ruin their lives for a good while.

The takeaway from this post is that when a natural disaster is headed in to certain location, the people must also consider the aftermath and the flooding that they will probably be faced with. Because that’s when the real pain begins.

For now, we are back and we are OK.

Rocky remembers when I rescued him in November of 2015 in Puerto Rico. He also remembers all the altercations with other dogs over the years where I had to break up the conflict in order to protect him. This is a story about our life together.

It was an ordinary Thursday on November 19th, 2015 in Puerto Rico. I was walking my 3 small dogs at a nearby park. All of a sudden, this Pit Bull mix walked right up to us and sat down. He was a stray dog living on the street. He was frail and tick infested. I was pretty concerned for my 3 small dogs at that moment. So, I walked my little ones about 20 feet away. The stray dog came right over to us again and just sat down. I started to realize that this dog was no threat at all. He was letting me know that he’s just a boy and couldn’t make it alone anymore. He was at the end of the line.

I decided to take the 3 small dogs back into the house and then go sit with the stray dog for a while. I brought him some food and water. Over the next week or so, I bridged him back to life. Then, I decided to bring him into the family and named him Rocky. He never forgot that. Rocky remembers that I was there when it counted most.

Fast Forward to March 16th, 2018:

Many of you know this story. This was the morning that my ex-wife was screaming for me to wake up because our foster dog managed to get into the house and went right after Rocky. I woke up to my wife screaming at 6:30 am and Rocky yelping in pain like I had never heard before. I ran into the room like a madman trying to pull the foster dog off of Rocky. This dog had her full bite entrenched into the back of Rocky’s neck. I could not get her off him. She was part Pit Bull, Dalmation and Greyhound. She was as strong as an Ox and fast as lightening. So, what I did was I lifted up her back legs and pulled them upwards towards the ceiling. But she would not let go. I pulled her back legs up even further towards the ceiling. Then, Rocky started being lifted off the ground as her bite around his neck was now pulling him up too.

But that did not work either. And this is what I had to do friends; I had to let her back down to the ground and open her mouth with my bare hands. Now, mind you, my ex-wife was also trying to separate them. But I was taking the lionshare of the blowback for sure. I literally pried her mouth open with my fingers and hands and got them separated. It was difficult for me to type or text for the next few weeks that’s how beat up my hands were. I was there for Rocky again. He remembers that.

Guess what I did after that? – I cleaned my hands off and went to work. Guess what my ex-wife did while I was at work? She took pictures of her scrapes and bruises from the dogfight that morning. I did not know that at the time. 35 days later when we were arguing about money, she went to the courts and said that I pushed her twice on March 16th, 2018. And she Never mentioned the dogfight. So, in other words, after living together for 4.5 years, I just decided to get up at 6:30 am and start pushing my wife around. How sick is that? – That’s how we ended up in Dorado where Patrick was killed.

Fast Foward to April 3rd, 2023:

When the neighbor’s dog got loose and threw Rocky and myelf into crazy, scary and risky tailspin for several minutes. This was just a few days ago. And once again, I was there for my boy. Rocky knows that. We have had several other altercations with other dogs too. But, the point I am trying to illustrate is that I have always been there for Rocky. And he remembers each incident.

That is why he lays across my chest now like a big baby in the top picture of this post. I used to call him my Little Big Guy. He was little in the sense that he was only a year old when I found him in the park on November 19th, 2015, He was big in the sense that anytime we played or wrested together, I had black and blue marks all over my body. But, in a good way, lol.

I really love him with all my heart. That is why I was always run directly into the fire to protect him.

That’s the story of my restless warrior, Rocky.

I was walking Rocky last night at about 7:30 pm. It was still light outside. All of a sudden one of my neighbor’s dogs managed to push through the enclosed fence at his owner’s house. He was about 40 feet from us at that moment. I knew that I only had a few seconds to avert a disaster. Being I could not outrun the oncoming dog, I lifted Rocky up to my chest level. When the dog finally reached us, I kept spinning in circles so he would not have a clear path at Rocky. But, each time he jumped up his claws landed on my back.

Rocky was squirming like crazy in order to get out of my arms and face the dog head on. And that is exactly what happened. Now, my adreniline was sky-high as I knew this dog could easly tear Rocky apart. So, I jumped right in the middle of them and landed on my back. There was a lot of wrestling going on and both of their claws were landing all over me.

Then, I noticed something, the neigbor’s dog while wrestling and acting aggressive, was never actually biting Rocky or me. Every time that I pushed his head away with my hands or feet, the dog just turned his head away. No biting. No teeth.

We got very lucky last night. This could have easily been a trip to the emergency room for Rocky and several weeks of hardcore recovery.

It’s been a long road for BabyLady and me since Puerto Rico. She came into my life in Sept of 2018. Just a few weeks after Patrick was killed. We have been together for 4 1/2 years now. And after all this time, we’re still helping each other.

BabyLady remembers the condition she was in when animal rescuer Anizta Burgos pulled her off the street in August of 2018 in Morovis, Puerto Rico. And I remember the condition that I was in when Patrick was killed on August 19th, 2018. – I died with him that day. And I definitely wanted to die. But, I still had a whole pack that was counting on me. My mother and sister were counting on me. I had no choice but to press on. 

Patrick’s death was the cry heard around the world. Anitza Burgos heard that cry and reached out to me asking if I wanted to adopt BabyLady. I told her that I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. But, I also knew in my head that I wasn’t sure that it was not a good idea. So, I said “Yes.” I will take her into my pack.

Tribute Video to Patrick and the Introduction of BabyLady – October of 2018

The name BabyLady was derived from the late great Patrick Swayze and the character ‘Baby’ from the movie “Dirty Dancing.” You see, I named my Patrick after Patrick Swayze because I always felt bad the way Mr. Swayze died. I did not want to name BabyLady “Patricia” because it was too similar to Patrick.

So, in the spirit of keeping my Patrick front and center while maintaining the Patrick Swayze connection, I decided to bring the name “Baby” into the picture from the movie Dirty Dancing. But, but, BabyLady was not a baby when I rescued her. She was already 6 years old. And that is why I added the “Lady” part to the “Baby” part. That is how the name BabyLady came about. That’s quite a story, right? 

BabyLady became the first female dog in my pack. She remains my only female dog till this day. And I can say with complete conviction that “BabyLady is my girl.” 

We march on now in the name of Sammy and Patrick. That’s our story for tonight