For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a mom. The few years I had with my son ended when I suffered a cardiac arrest and brain injury, the result of anorexia. Matthew moved away with his father; our dog Buffy went with him. I had lost both my child and my pet.

 To rehabilitate myself I gravitated to the beach, a safe place to exercise with impaired mobility. Walking on the sand, I admired dogs happily playing with their loved ones. I started praying for a miracle, for another dog to come into my life.

On a solitary walk, deep in thought, I flashed back to my grandfather’s championship show dog, Jet. A calm and distinguished black Labrador Retriever, he never left Grandpa’s side. Jet was his dog of a lifetime. I had been thinking a service dog could help my balance and coordination when I walked. The name Jetta stuck in my mind with the image of a beautiful female black Lab. From that moment, Jetta became my dream. I had been twenty-five years without a dog. Jetta gave me love and a full life again. My miracle, she has been at my side ever since.

Here she shares her stories of a working dog’s life.