A Dog's Life

Last weekend, my son, DIL, their pup Brady, and I participated in Trails for Tails, a fundraising event to benefit Five Acres Animal Shelter. Some of you may remember last year when we caught up with David Backes (team captain of the St. Louis Blues Hockey team) at this event. David and his wife, Kelly serve on Five Acres' Board of Directors. Sadly, we didn't get to see "The Man" this year.

A large and enthusiastic crowd turned out.

Our little group bravely started the 5K together, but Brady quickly grew weary of going the distance. He planted his butt on the trail and refused to move another step. We didn't give up. Instead we decided to carry on to the finish line.

Carry the dog on to the finish line, that is. He rode in style, with each of us taking a turn staggering along the path while carrying 24 pounds of Cairn Terrier. We finished dead last.

I think you can officially call Brady a very pampered pup.

Told You So!

My daughter organized a group to participate in "Trails for Tails", a fundraising event for Five Acres Animal Shelter. Her intrepid team is pictured above. She turned it into a true family affair by recruiting me, her sister-in-law (my daughter-in-law), and my sister. Can you guess who's who?* 

Prior to leaving for Trails, we had a serious talk with Daughter's step-son who plays competitive hockey and is also a huge Blues fan.

Daughter: "You ought to come along in case Dave Backes (captain of the St Louis Blues hockey team and board member of Five Acres Animal Shelter) is there."

Since he's nearly 13, he blew us off with a blithe, "Backes won't be there, he's busy with hockey stuff" reply. His eyes never once left the hockey video game he was playing. Oh well...

Anyway, we were lucky enough to have perfect weather for the 3 mile walk. I'd say several hundred people (and almost as many pets) attended.

At 9 a.m. sharp we were off and walking. Although we had runners on our team, they took pity on the rest of us and walked, too. Otherwise they'd have left us behind in their dust.

Just after we crossed the finish line, guess what? Daughter spied a special someone and snagged a picture to seal the deal.

Yep, it was HIM! She texted the photo to a certain young man who quickly regretted not listening to the ladies. Luckily, Daughter had enough empathy to refrain from saying, "I told you so!"

What a perfect day and great fun raising much-needed money for my favorite animal shelter.

*Pictured from left to right in team picture: two of Daughter's best buddies, Daughter, my sister, me, and my daughter-in-law. Daughter-in-law is holding her pup, Brady.