My name is Emma. I was born in the summer of ‘99 near Ashville, North Carolina. I was fortunate that my master and buddy came to the shelter on his 30th birthday and decided to take me home. I met the rest of the family, Carey and Trevor. Mason took me to work every day, it was great fun. Mason designed life jackets for paddle sports.
When the company was sold, our family moved to the west.

We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for several months in Aberdeen, while Mason did some free lancing. Mason moved up in the design world. He went to work for Columbia Sportswear. Mason continued to progress through several jobs including Danner Boot/Lacrosse and Icon.

Carey and Trevor left our family. We moved in with Brian, Harley (dog) and Wallace (cat) in east Portland. The Wallace and I were best friends. Then Justine moved in with her two “dust mops”. I picked up a bad habit of barking too much.

Mason started traveling a lot in the US and China. I got to stay in Aberdeen more and go to my favorite park.

Justine and Brian were married, and Levi came along. We were too crowded, so Mason and I bought a home in the Concordia district. I had a dog door and a large back yard. Things were going great until I almost lost Mason. He was going to work and had a terrible accident on May 15, 2008. Mason was in a coma for five weeks. They say Mason had a Traumatic Brain Injury and a lot of broken bones.

In December 2008, we all drove to Aberdeen. I remember that my master had told me to stay out of the streets; so I got to roam around on my own. We went to this place next to my park several times a week. This Mason did a lot of things called therapy. They let me help with therapy at home. This was great because they always had treats.

In June of 2011, Grandpa noticed a sore on my left hip. He took me to Dr. Stevenson’s office. A few days later I got to ride in Grandpa’s pickup to Olympia. After we got back home, Grandma told Mason that I had problem called mast cell cancer. I had to start taking many pills.

We went to see Dr. Lisa (Parshley) many times. I usually had a lot of fun with the nice people. On the way home we usually stopped at the Ranch House B/Q so I could pee and play in the creek.

Grandpa told Mason that the mass cell was spreading. Dr. Stevenson had preformed two operations. Dr. Stevenson and Dr. Lisa worked real hard to deal with my lumps, but I guess there were too many.

I stated having a few pee accidents at night in Mason’s room. Grandpa setup my own place in the sunroom. I could go outside and pee. Grandpa had setup a five gallon bucket so I could get all the water I wanted. During the day time Grandma always had ice cubes for me in my water.

One Friday, I had trouble getting up from my dog bed. On Saturday, I really had trouble moving about. I struggled hard to get to my favorite spot in the front yard, but only made it as far as the entry hall. It seemed like I had a bad pain every few minutes. Grandma and Grandpa took turns lying down beside me. I had to pee real bad, so I was just barely able to walk outside to pee. When I got back in the house, Grandma was crying. Mason was there in his wheel chair. Grandpa and Grandma helped me lay on the silk couch. I never was allowed to lie on the silk couch, so I tried to get down on the rug. Then I saw Dr. Stevenson in our house. What was he doing here, and I didn’t get a chance to bark at him?

Well, I decided to relax, and lay my head down. Dr. Stevenson put some thing in my left leg to help me sleep. Grandma was still crying.
After a bit the pain was all gone, and I could sleep.


Emma -- March 31, 2012

Bob A.