Every day we meet wonderful people who love their furry family members, and inevitably we all share stories about them. Now, I don’t often share the story about my best friend, but I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself and tell you a little about him. I'm Mike (Urban Underdog code name Mike-Dawg) I'm currently the Urban Underdog treasurer, (although I don’t know why they asked someone who hates balancing his checkbook to fill that role!) In my undercover everyday life, I work as a bridge designer helping to build bridges. But enough about me; let me tell you about my best friend… Winomo-pah.
My wife Cynthia had just picked me up at the airport from a business trip to Canada. She said on the way home, that we needed to swing by our vet’s office to pick up one of our “children” who had spent the morning there. While talking with the Vet in the exam room, he mentioned that we needed to see this adorable puppy that had just come in… well before he had even finished his sentence, Cynthia was already telling him to go get him. When he returned he had the cutest, happiest 16 month old golden retriever I had ever seen. Even more amazing was that when he set the puppy down, I noticed that the little guy was missing one of his back legs.
He told us the story of how the previous owners let him get his leg caught in a fence and neglected to get him medical attention until it was too late, and he ended up losing his leg. The Doctor told us that he just had surgery the day before to remove his leg, but today, before us was a little happy dog bouncing around without a care or worry in the world, not even caring that he was missing a leg. Well… needless to say, I think you can guess what happened next.
That special deep bond and trust that you develop with your best friend is amazing. As Winomo-pah got older we got him a wheel chair to help him get around, but he still trusted me more to help him. Our house had stairs, and he would climb them like they weren’t even there. He would get to the stairs and turn around and look for me. You see, I had become his missing leg. I would put my hand on his “nub” where his leg had been and support him… and up the stairs he would run!
Tragically, we lost Winomo-pah on Easter Day a few years ago. I am still surprised at how choked-up I get talking about him. Thanks for letting me “brag” about him. I'll have to share the story of how he got his name another time. Next time you see me, tell me about your best friend… or better yet, lets start a conversation here. Post me back about you and your best friend.