Raised $6585
Pip came into our lives around Easter of 2011. He was a beautiful chocolate lab who was unusually calm even as a young puppy. He quickly became an integral part of our family. He’d take turns sleeping with the kids, fiercely protected us on our backpacking trips and was always ready with a wagging tail. He loved everyone and viewed strangers as friends not yet made.
In all honesty, Pip provided for my kids in a way sometimes that I couldn’t. Every parent aspires to unconditional love, yet, it can be difficult at times. Pip seamlessly picked up wherever I fell short. He always greeted the kids with excitement, never judged, never lectured, never had unrealistic expectations and was never too tired or too overwhelmed for them. He loved them just as they were at every moment.
Around October of last year, Pip became sick. After two months of illness and chest surgery to remove a large mass from his lungs, Pip was diagnosed with bone cancer. At one point in my life, I would chuckle when I heard of people spending hundreds of dollars to save their dogs. No longer. I put Pip on a strict gluten-free diet, spent hours online reading about the latest in canine cancer research, took him swimming with a therapist, juiced for him daily and even considered amputating his leg.
No matter how sick Pip became his tail never stopped wagging. Shortly before his third birthday, however, he let us know it was time to let him go.
Pip’s death left behind a void that we all struggled to find a way to fill. After many fish and a hamster…. we turned again to the canine world. Just last month we got a new addition to the family …… our puppy Banksy.
Freedom Service Dogs, our 2014 beneficiary, is a nonprofit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by rescuing dogs and custom training them for individual client needs. Clients include children, veterans, active-duty soldiers, and other adults. Their disabilities include Autism, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Cerebral Palsy, spinal cord injuries, Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). All dogs come from shelters and rescue groups. They learn to pick up items, open doors, pull wheelchairs, go for help, turn on lights and 50 other commands.
Freedom Service dogs not only provide physical assistance but companionship, acceptance and unconditional love. I can think of no better gift to a person in need.