Sue Silverstein and Red are two of the purest and sweetest souls that I know. Sue has become a good friend, and she loves Red and refers to him as “my dog.”

He returns the love. On our visits together to the Bishop Maginn High School, there is a carpet for Red to lie on (he hates linoleum floors) and Sue spends a lot of time on the ground with him, hugging him, petting him, and feeding him the treats he is not supposed to have.

Red is her dog in many ways, he is only part mine, he is a spirit dog, he is a lot of people’s dog, that’s just the way he is.

Sue is a teacher (art and theology) at Bishop Maginn, her class is a center for the needy, the creative, the outcasts and the searchers. Red and I both love to hang out there.

But there is a special attachment between Red and Mrs.Silverstein, a real connection. Usually, Red gets very anxious if I leave him in a room, he looks for me. As long as he is with Sue, he is happy to lie on her carpet and get hugged.

Her students have adopted Red as well.

I couldn’t help but notice this hugging was occurring in front of a large statue of Jesus Christ, almost as if he were blessing the two of them. I don’t want to take this too far, I’m not a conventionally religious person, and I’m not a Christian.

But these are two souls who practiced what Christ preached – they care for the needy and the vulnerable without judgment or self-interest. They do go together, it makes perfect sense. Both of them are all good. I am learning that I don’t have to be a saint to be good, I just have to do good.

I think Sue already knows that.