In three days, I will be nine years old. This year will mark seven years of serving my handler, Christy. She says time is going by too quickly. I don’t understand what time is, but I do know when it’s time to eat. I start staring at Christy when I get hungry and sometimes, I make a mooing sound like a cow, so she says I definitely know what time is. The new people I meet think my brindle markings are a sign of old age, but really, the only sign of aging is on my chin. I do have grey hair and Mom says I have a goatee, but I don’t see any goats. At least not in our backyard yet. For my birthda ..read more

Late one Saturday night my husband showed me we had two ducks sleeping on our front lawn. We live in downtown Morristown and are nowhere near a body of water, so I was amazed to watch them. I guess we disturbed them, as they got up and waddled across the street, then for some reason decided to waddle back. I watched in horror as a car came over the hill and struck them both. I grabbed a box and some towels and went to the rescue. One was instantly killed and the other lay struggling in the middle of the street. I quickly removed them to our screened back porch for triage. There wasn’t much I c ..read more

Service dog? Not me! I’m a privileged pet. I lay around on everything and sleep most of the day. I get two wonderful meals a day and have a fenced backyard all to myself to play in. I also have my own soft kennel that zips up for privacy and all the toys and chew bones I want. After all, I will be nine years old this month and that’s a lot of years for a dog. So, in my mind I think I’m a pet, but then I catch a scent of something, and I realize, I’m a dog with a purpose. I smell Christy’s blood sugar dropping and get right to work alerting her. Working is a privilege for me, and I love havin ..read more

What does “diaversary” mean? Last month I passed a milestone. It was the thirty-fourth anniversary of my diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. Those of us living with diabetes call it our “diaversary.” Diabetes is a way of life for me. I’ve had it more than half of my life and feel like I’ve known no other way to live. I’ll never forget the circumstances of my diagnosis. When I close my eyes, I can still see the office where I was told my life would never be the same. There were many years after that of doctors hounding me to get my sugars under control, and it felt like I was on a rollercoaster, goi ..read more

Many people who observe me with my handler, Christy, notice I keep my eye on her. A lot of people comment that I only do it for the treats from the pouch she wears. Yes, I love food, but the purpose of giving me treats is to keep “Sustained Focus on the Handler.” When I keep my eyes on Christy, I’m focused and I get a reward, but rewards are limited to a certain amount per day. When I alert Christy to a low blood sugar and I’m correct, I get the high-value treats. I love those treats so much; I try to get them by pretending to alert. But Christy knows I am a foody because Labradors love food ..read more

I find it hard to believe we have already been residing in Tennessee for two years. Time seems irrelevant when one is retired. Although, I’m not really retired. My husband is. I always dreamed of this time when he could kick back and support my writing endeavors and I could write us off into the sunset on my success. Well, as the saying goes, “the best laid plans” is true as I’ve found life does not always go the way we want it to. Even though I am writing novels, articles and stories for anthologies, I still don’t feel I am pulling my weight. In fact, to be honest, even though I am pursuing ..read more

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the Peanuts comic strip? Is it Snoopy or perhaps the Peanuts’ Christmas Special? For me, it will forever be Charlie Brown. My daddy loved Peanuts. I remember him laughing out loud as he read it every Sunday. Charles Schultz was a genius cartoonist, especially with the lead character. My daddy related to Charlie Brown in ways I will probably never know. He was a real-life Charlie Brown. Dad always had a goofy grin on his face, like Charlie Brown, especially if he was pleased with something. In the winter he wore the same kind o ..read more

It’s a good thing I’m a laid-back, tolerant kind of guy because this black furball can get on my nerves at times. No matter what I do, he’s in my face, literally chewing on my ears or my lips. He especially likes pulling me around by my bringsel or alert bar. One day Rocky did something I’d never do. He chewed off and swallowed a cloth leg from his favorite octopus Kong toy that used to look like this: Mom has since cut off all the tentacles. Mom had to make Rocky throw up because he was having tummy trouble. Sure enough, up came a slimy blue leg and everything else he’d eaten. EWWW! Littl ..read more

So far the new year has been SNOW much fun! It started early in the morning with little flakes coming down. The snowfall wasn’t very impressive; just a slight dusting. But by noon, the flakes were at least the size of my doggy kibble and the grass was disappearing. It kept coming down for more than a day. I always look forward to snow because I like to play in it and catch snowballs. By the evening, snowmen were appearing all around the neighborhood. It piled up everywhere. The next day I went out to romp in the field next to us, but my snow time didn’t last long. I got cold feet really fas ..read more

My sister gave me a hilarious Christmas present this year. It sits on my desk and reminds me of a traumatic childhood experience I could have avoided. It’s a Locket Doll made by Mattel in the early 1970s. Once upon a time when I was in first grade, I got a Lucky Lois Locket Doll. She was encased in a locket that hung on a chain around my neck. I could conveniently take her out and play with her. When I was finished, I’d tuck her safely away inside the locket. I absolutely loved her and wanted to wear her everywhere I went, even to school. But that morning my mother told me to leave her at ho ..read more