Shadow is my black lab. Somebody had abandoned him in the Arizona desert in the Spring of 1996. When I found him on the way home from California to Ohio, he was all starved and covered with dust. He’s the sweetest dog ever … and since there is a little bit of an unusual story as to how he got his name, I thought I’d share it with you.

When I found Shadow, I was moving back from CA and my U-haul got a flat out in the middle of the desert. The closest exit was 11 miles away! I waited 10 minutes for the first car, who passed me by. The second car had a long trailer attached … and it pulled over.

This old codger got out and said, "let’s fix that tire, sonny!" We couldn’t fix it because U-Haul does not provide a spare, you had to call a 1-800#. So the old codger, named Phil, took me into town. Phil had the nicest dog sitting up front, named Penny. When I got in, Phil said, "Penny, move over." & the dog moved over. What ever Phil said, the dog did. I was amazed. You see, Phil used to train dogs. Then, I asked him what was in the trailer. He said, Teddy Bears! Phil made a living going around to flea markets & selling teddy bears. He used to sell this stuff you spray on your rims to clean it off, but teddy bears sold better …

Anyway, Phil drops me off at a gas station. I call the 1-800#. "Hi, big boy" the phone answered, "talk dirty to me" This was definitely not U-Haul. Somehow my line got crossed with some sex line.

When I connected to U-Haul, they said they’d find someone for me in the next hour or so. I went looking for Phil to thank him profusely for the ride. Phil was beside the gas station, looking off into the distance, counting 106, 107, 108, 109 …

Phil, what are you doing? Oh, he said, I’m counting the train cars on that train off in the distance. Try it sometime, it’s fun (O.K. Phil). So I asked Phil how I could thank him and he said that dinner would be great. I told him that I’d join him as soon as I heard from the guy about the truck.

Then this guy popped out of nowhere waving a cellular phone and said, "Are you the guy with the truck?" A little taken aback, I asked him who he was and how did he know? I replied. It turns out that the building next to the gas station did truck repairs, so it only took 5 minutes for U-Haul to find someone. Still, I felt a little freaked out that this guy who just popped up out of nowhere.

Phil told me he’d wait for dinner until the truck got fixed. Unfortunately, it took 4 hours to fix the truck. I didn’t get back into town until 10 pm. So I stopped at the first cheap hotel I could find and got a room. As I opened the door to leave the motel lobby, there was Phil!

Phil, what are you doing?? Phil told me that he had the greatest dinner and that he’d wake me up for breakfast. O.K., sounds good, Phil …

Bang bang bang! 6 in the morning & Phil’s knocking on my door. So Phil, his dog Penny & I went off to breakfast. This mangy black lab was running up to people, wagging his tail & trying to make a friend. Phil, the dog expert, said that the dog would make a nice pet. I told him I was interested, so Phil checked him out.

It turns out that the dog’s paws were all worn down. Phil says he must have run a hundred miles looking for someone. Phil didn’t want a stray giving his Penny some strange disease, so we went to breakfast. I thought that if the dog was still around, then it would be right for me to adopt him. Phil told Penny to wait outside and Penny did (no leash or anything).

So Phil & I had a huge breakfast, but Phil wouldn’t let me pay! So as we left, I showed him my wallet full of $20 bills and told him that I was grateful for him picking me up and that I would like to thank him. Would he like $100 or so?

Then Phil got a strange look in his eye and stared me down. He took in a deep breath and said, "ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?" I said, no, I’m a Methodist. "CLOSE ENOUGH! I’M A BAPTIST!"

With Phil all religious on me, I decided that I’d better start back on the road. When I got back to my hotel, the dog was there waiting for me. I told him "up" & he jumped into the truck. It just seemed too perfect. So I went to the grocery store to get him some food.

Phil was in the check out line at the grocery store! So Phil advised me what food to buy. Phil left and I went shopping. Since Phil was so unusual, I decided to write on my map, just above Gila Bend, Arizona, "Phil the Baptist" so that I would remember this story.

I bought the food, went back to the motel & packed up my stuff. Then I went to buy gas. Strangely enough, Phil was at the gas station making a phone call. He said, let me see the map, I’ll tell you how to avoid all the tornadoes in Kansas … Remembering that I wrote "Phil the Baptist" on the map, I diverted him by asking him what we should name the dog. He said "Shadow." That’s the last I saw of my good Samaritan, Phil the Baptist.