How do I explain the little piece of joy that came into my life when all hell was breaking loose? Before my father died, he thought it may be good for me to have a pet to go home to while in Denver.

He wanted me to have a sense of normalcy and not be alone. Everyone has a dog in Denver so I set out looking for a dog that needed to be saved.

Dogs have always been a part of my life. Carl bought our first dog for Adyn when she was 2 years old. Barkley, named after Charles Barkley (Nathan’s pick) was a yellow lab. He was a beautiful yellow lab who jumped right into the family mix.

Soon he was ruling the backyard. Unfortunately, he was stolen shortly after we had him fixed. And while we sent out the search parties we knew after a few weeks he was gone. The hurt you feel when you lose a pet is horrible.