Three Years

It's nearly impossible for me to believe that three years ago today Dash and I graduated as a team from Canine Companions for Independence. Three years gone by and I still get butterflies on occasion when I think about how special Dash is, how perfect he is for me, and how blessed I am to call him my service dog.

We celebrated this year's Dashiversary by going to this year's May graduation ceremony at Canine Companions for Independence, just as we did last year. Though I was feeling slightly under the weather from a virus I came down with a few days earlier, it was still a wonderful day. We cheered on three dogs from the Northern Ohio Volunteer Group who graduated, we comforted a few puppy raiser friends who were turning their pups in for Advanced Training, we socialized with other graduates and volunteers, and we had a special reunion with my cousin Becky. I hadn't seen her in at least 20 years, but leave it to Canine Companions for Independence to do the unimaginable!

Becky has been volunteering for Canine Companions for Independence for over 20 years and in February turned in her first puppy, Poet the Great. We unfortunately couldn't meet up at that time but she returned for May's graduation to professionally photograph it. I am so glad she did because it gave us a chance to sit down and get to know each other! She's a beautiful lady inside and out and I hope not a graduation goes by that we don't get to see each other.  What an unexpected gift that i would never have gotten without Dash!