2010 was a personal low for me. My first wife left and divorced me. I lost a great job that I loved. I had to file for chapter 7 bankruptcy over my now unaffordable mortgage and significant medical debt. Right before the wife left, she found Lyndi tied to a cinder block in the neighbor’s yard. They were moving away and were planning on turning the dig loose on the streets of Pontiac.

After the my wife left and I struggled to find a new job my anxiety was mounting. And each day that I spent many hours looking for work away from home, Lyndi was anxious as well. So I poured myself into her intentionally.

I purchased her toys, and treats, got her all of her vaccinations, and got her spayed and micro-chipped. I bought a season pass for the Oakland County bark parks and we spent many hours each week, several days per week, at the biggest one, Orion Oaks Dog Park.

We eased each other’s anxieties with long walks through the neighborhood, and playing at home and at the bark park.

Other pet lovers always Comme Ted on her beautiful brindle coat. And I had to tell them thank you and the back story behind her beautiful coat. You see when she adopted us from the street she had one of the worst cases of the Red Mange. Her spine was almost bald and every evening her white chest would flush red when the mites were on the move burrowing through her skin. She never complained or whinned about it. She didn’t even try to scratch it but I could tell it had to be very uncomfortable for her. So we had her treated aggressively at the Berkley Animal Hospital. We took her every week on Mondays and they kept her there all day for treatment. This went on for six weeks. By week 4 her coat had begun to regrow fully on her back and spine and it was the most beautiful patchwork of bright colors.

Lyndi was the most mild mannered dog that I have ever known. She loved to play but never barked or jumped up on people. She was a loving and gentle soul who was a comfort to be around, even for those who weren’t pet people!

I was so low when I got her that I was contemplating suicide bit coming home after unsuccessfully searching for work all day, and discovering that she had chewed up some oak baseboard trim to mere splinters, I thought to myself, “I can’t leave this dog like that. I have to stay here for her.” I crated her while I was searching for work from then on to keep her from getting into trouble chewing on things, and she gave me a new focus on the here and now instead of what I had recently lost. We were good for each other. We saved each other and for that I am eternally grateful for her gentle soul and quiet and mild demeanor.

She was a two-time cancer survivor, a loving companion, and a friend whom I often confided in. I am a better me for having loved her and I will always cherish the time that we had together.