A-Z Challenge 2025 

D is for Dog. 

Maggie was a yellow lab, my brother Dave's and his wife Janette's dog.  She had so much personality and she was a warm and wonderful companion on our family camping trips. 

Maggie's "sister" in my brother's family, was Winnie, or as I called her "My Travel Buddy".  During the camping trip of 2005, (eight years before these photos were taken) when Winnie was still a young dog, I injured my knee rather badly in a hiking accident.  

As a result, I was unable to drive myself, so I rode in the back seat of Dave's truck with Winnie on this trip.  She seemed to sense my injured leg and she was very careful to avoid it (everywhere else on my body was "fair game" for her paws, however! LOL).  The bond I formed with her was extremely strong on that trip and I feel a deep pang looking at her pictures now, old and grizzled.  Her and Maggie were best pals.  And back when Birgit and I were married, we had our own black lab named Katie, and her and Winnie were also great pals.  

There is a special bond that we have with our pets.  People who do not have them don't always seem to understand how intense the relationship is.  Our pets are family.  Full stop.  And that goes for extended family as well.  So many dogs over the years have come and gone in my life.  It's a bittersweet memory, but a very warm one as well.