Warren's Place

Ralph, beloved pet and companion of Perry Blair, passed away on Saturday, January 1, 2005. Perry, Ralph's owner, was a homeless man who lived in the streets of downtown San Francisco near the Civic Center. Ralph was with Perry for the last 13 to 15 years. Ralph had a hard life living in the streets and surviving the cold, wet winters. Perry was sometimes drunk and in that state, he would be borderline abusive to Ralph even though he loved Ralph. Through it all, Ralph remained loyal and resilient. Ralph was the one thing that kept Perry from going over the edge.

A few years ago, Gail met Perry and Ralph one day when she noticed Ralph. Ralph was always friendly and liked people. Through Ralph, we got to know Perry, and this prompted us to meet and know a couple of other homeless men. We then embarked on our personal social program to help the homeless in our own way such as personally buying warm cloths and blankets from the local surplus stores and distributing the goods directly to the homeless on particularly cold nights.

We occasionally gave Ralph a "vacation" from his situation by taking him for walks at Marina Greens or some other places. He loved it. We gave Perry and Ralph food and supplies to make their life a little easier. When Perry got in trouble and got thrown in jail, Ralph got sent to doggy-jail (the local animal shelter). Gail got to know that animal shelter workers so that we could alert them to look out for Ralph whenever Perry got in trouble.

Just a few months ago last year, Perry and Ralph finally got a home of their own through our city's new homeless housing outreach program. We were so glad to hear that the pair were finally off the streets, and that Ralph could live out the rest of his days in a comfortable place. He really deserved a better life than what he had.

Ralph was faithful and loving, and he helped open our eyes to the plight of the homeless, and for these reasons we'll remember him fondly and forever.

Thanks for reading.

-- Warren

Pictures follow:

Here is Ralph on Gail's lap during one of Ralph's "vacations":



Ralph on one of his walks at Marina Greens: