I spent some time with Malek yesterday; she is the very special and charismatic refugee driven from two countries by war  – Iraq and Syria – and into the refugee camps for years.

We work on her writing and have become good friends. She is special. I could see she was upset and asked her if she wanted to talk. After my class, we sat down together and I listened.

She is 17, a senior at Bishop Maginn High School; she works part-time at a movie theater in Albany at the concession stand. She has had a hard life and a tough week or two, for reasons I can’t share.

She seemed heartbroken to me.

She is having a hard time.

We have helped pay her tuition; she is well worth our support.

We talked in the classroom where I teach my Writing Workshop and where we have been training Zinnia.  Malek is part of the team.

At one point, as Malek was talking to me, tears ran down her cheeks, and her voice broke.

Zinnia was at the far side of the classroom chewing on a toy,  and when she heard Malek’s voice break, I saw Zinnia’s head turn sharply. She got up and came over to Malek and crawled under her chair, and just lay down.

It was a striking thing to witness, the playful puppy morphing into something else right in front of me.

It isn’t something I have seen her do with anyone, including me.

Malek lowered her hand, and Zinnia reached up and licked it and held still as Malek stroked her head and reached down to pet her.

It was apparent to me that Zinnia sensed Malek’s sadness and hurt, even from across the room; she presented herself to her and lay still for four or five minutes as Malek talked to me. She just got close.

Zinnia has wise eyes, they are deep.

I wish I could help Malek, but the most help I could offer was to listen. She needed to talk. And she’s in a good place. The people at the school care.

But Zinnia’s intuition was striking, it lifted my heart, and also Malek’s spirits.

The great therapy dogs know who needs them and who doesn’t.

Red had that gift.

Zinnia has that gift, surprising in a dog a little more than three months old.

Perhaps all the great dogs know when people need them, not just the therapy dogs.

Zinnia can’t solve Malek’s problem any more than I can, but she is a spirit dog, and she can lift and soften and comfort bleeding souls.

I am grateful to have seen that moment and been a part of it. My heart sang seeing the feeling that past between these two, and sometimes, being loved has to be enough.

Zinnia was what Malek needed, those precious minutes were healing.