My name is Kalora’s Angel Beside Me...aka “Mateo” (which means “Gift from God”) I am a Doberman Pinscher...a very special Doberman Pinscher. Why you ask? I’ll let my owner, Melody, tell you the story. It’s a pretty good one and it explains my connection to ALS. Here’s she is...

Cancer struck my Doberman boy Miguel and on June 25, 2009 I had to say “Sweet Dreams” to my beloved boy. He was an incredible dog and I was very sad to see him leave me but I couldn’t allow him to suffer any longer. That evening, I spent the night at my dad and mom’s. Mom was in the latter stages of ALS at this time so she didn’t get out of bed much. I layed my head on her bed by her and cried as I told her about Miguel having to leave me. She knew how much I loved my dog and thus knew how upset I was. Though she couldn’t talk, she rubbed my head to let me know she cared and that she was sorry for me.

Karen Michael, my wonderful, beautiful mom, died on August 7, 2009. Her suffering was over. She died at home with her family. For being what it was....it was a beautiful moment. I don’t know how one can say that dying is beautiful but it was. Don’t get me wrong...I was sad beyond words and angry at a disease that took my mom away from me long before God took her home. But her final moments with my dad and each of us kids was nothing less than beautiful.

Okay...back to the story...

The day after mom left, I was sitting on the front porch at dad & mom’s and I received a text from Miguel’s breeder Estelle saying that one of her female Dobes just had a litter of puppies... six of them being boys. I chuckled a bit and thought to myself...”Mom, did you just send Miguel back to me?”

With much going on the next couple of weeks, I didn’t give much thought to the puppies. But soon emails started arriving with pictures of the new puppies. I knew I couldn’t afford a new Doberman pup but also felt that I was meant to have one of those boys. I “him-hawed” back & forth with Estelle for a while and had almost come to the conclusion that there was no way I was going to be able to bring one of the puppies home.

Then, one day, the family was all together at dad’s as we began the process of going through mom’s things. Dad called us all into the family room and gave us each a “gift” from he and mom. Well, it didn’t take me very long to know that once again, mom was going to make sure I had that puppy. So, I called Estelle and said, Get that boy ready to come to Nebraska!!! Estelle told me to think of a registered name for my new puppy....and here’s the kicker...she said the theme for the litter is “ANGELS”!!!

Well, there you have it. Like I said, my name is Mateo and I am a very special Doberman sent by a very special person to live with MY very special person. So I hope you will help us as we work together not only to raise awareness but also to help find treatments and a cure for ALS.

Please consider walking with me or sponsoring me. Every little bit makes a difference in the lives of people affected by this dreadful disease. I encourage you get your friends, family, neighbors and coworkers involved!

Thank you so much!!!

Kalora’s Angel Beside Me ...aka ... MATEO