“We Can, We Will”

Back in 2021, we found ourselves checking into a motel in Poesta, Iowa. It was built in the shape of a U, with the driveway leading up to the center of the second floor. As I was walking toward the lobby, I looked over and saw a little stuffed dog rolling and spinning in circles. It was due to the shape of the building creating a vortex of wind.

I thought to myself, If I see him in the morning, I’m gonna grab it. Sure enough, that morning, the little stuffed toy was still rolling around the grass, just as he had been the day before. So I took the dogs out to go to the bathroom and headed toward it. I picked him up—he felt like he had been tumble-dried for days. We kept him and gave him the name Vortex.

As I was about to head for the car, I looked down and saw a grocery bag of different toiletries spread out on the grass. Just then, I noticed a brown coin with the name of the 9th Cavalry Regiment on it. I looked up the value and saw it was only worth $10. The 9th Cavalry Regiment was one of the original Buffalo Soldier regiments. Their motto was “We Can, We Will.”

At that moment, I thought of my mother, who loved carrying touchstones and could use a bit of symbolism for life, so I gave it to her. Then in 2023, after losing her and inheriting her car, I thought it would be perfect to keep the coin in there as a reminder of our adventures.

Three months went by, and some no-good people broke into the car and ransacked it. They took all of her paperwork and threw it everywhere, even smashing a giant apple snail shell we had found and she had been keeping. The coin was the only thing they stole, probably thinking it was valuable. What they didn’t know was that it was priceless to me.

Then, two years later, my twin sister surprised me with another one—an incredible, heartfelt gift.

Don’t Forget The Room Key.

In May 2023, on the morning of the fourth leg of our memorial trip in Madison, Wisconsin, we faced an unexpected challenge. It was Faith's first cross-country adventure, and I was a bit wary of how she'd react. While checking out of room 114, I started by carrying my bags to the car parked just outside the door. I hesitated—should I take Faith on her leash, or just close the door behind me, making it look shut but not locked?

I decided to take a chance. I slowly shut the door and ran with my bag toward the car. Suddenly, I heard a slam. Faith wanted to come too; she took a full run at the door, jumped up, and slammed it shut violently. I felt a surge of relief, knowing I had the room key in my pocket and could open the door to get her.

But when I turned the door knob, I pushed my shoulder against the door it had only opened an inch. Faith’s slam had caused the metal lock to shift, allowing the door to open only a couple of inches. There she was, her lovely face poking through, barking as if puzzled about what was wrong.

I ran to the office to explain the situation. The staff member came down to help but couldn’t open the door. They even debated removing the window to get inside. Eventually, maintenance was called and said they’d arrive in 30 minutes. It was past check-out time, and all we could do was wait.

Then I realized—Faith’s leash was still on. Maybe we could lasso the metal lock and pull it back. Holding the leash over the latch, my sister shut the door again, forcing the latch to flip back and unlock. Faith was free!

Since then, I’ve taken two more cross-country trips with Faith, but I’ll always remember the time she locked me out of the room right when I was supposed to be checking out.

In memory of…

The picture of the swallow is not the bird in the story but one of a barn swallow I took some days later. As I was leaving town on another adventure, I was driving on a bridge high above Coeur D’Alene Lake, where many tree swallows were swooping and flying, most likely catching mosquitoes or other insects. Just as I came up the hill, there was a swallow headed straight for my car as if it were a kamikaze fighter. At the last moment, it zigged and I zagged, letting out an “aaaah” of relief.

Some time had passed, and we pulled into a Montana rest stop when a lady walking toward our car—who had intended to proceed to the restroom—stopped. Bent over slightly and squinting, she stared directly at the front of my car. I automatically thought, “Oh no, we both zigged and a collision was the result.” She looked at me, and as I was about to get out of the car, made a motion with her finger and thumb about an inch apart, moving them back and forth as if doing charades.

I got out and said, “Dang, I did hit him.” There were two wings jackknifed into the grill. Her husband walked over, and she said, “Look.” He replied, “What, did someone give you the bird?” as he pulled the little body from the grill. Surprisingly, it came out in the shape of the space where it was jammed. As he walked over and put the poor bird in the trash can, I said, “Thank you.”

A Cat Named Sam

When I was visiting the cemetery located in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, with my 6-year-old nephew, we happened upon a cat inside the cemetery walls that appeared injured. My nephew asked me to please contact someone to help him. Before we left, Jesse—my nephew—ran back in to tell the cat that everything would be okay and that we would be sending help.

I reached out to the local cat rescue, Save A Gato, for assistance, and they promptly set out to rescue him. In the meantime, a German tourist had also met Sam and highlighted him on the Save A Gato website. We started a text conversation about how Sam felt like a little angel when you saw him.

After staking out the cemetery, Save A Gato managed to take him into their care.

When I got home, I reloaded an app called Flickr, which I hadn’t visited in a few years. Upon signing in, I noticed there was one picture I had favorited long ago. It was a photo of an orange cat in Old San Juan, sitting in the sun on one of the walls that surround the city. I promptly contacted the photographer, who turned out to be an astronomy teacher, orchestra leader, and photographer. He told me he had been on vacation in Puerto Rico and was captivated by this orange cat, so he took its picture. It was the only photo he took of a cat on an island full of cats.

We compared pictures and identified him as the same cat.

Excited by the odds, I searched YouTube for “orange cat Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.” There was one short video taken years earlier—and there he was, much healthier but with the same identifying ear marks.

Save A Gato contacted me and told me that if I wanted to adopt Sam, I was more than welcome to bring him home. As I was considering the idea, a few days later they explained that his injuries were due to skin cancer from sitting in the sun too long. A kind man named Cesar told me that Sammy was in his care and that he would stay with him until it was time for him to be escorted over the rainbow bridge.

Sam will be forever in my heart.

Save A Gato later posted a memorial to Sam on their Facebook page, where people from around the world shared their condolences.

Blog Post - The Story

Back in 2016 my mother and I decided to drive across the country and meet up with the rest of the family in Florida. Being from Spokane Washington it would mean driving an estimated 5,000 miles round trip with my German shepherd named Karma and my Great Pyrenees mix named Albert Einstein. Most people said, “you’re nuts” or “you will end up killing each other by the time it’s over.” To our surprise we had an incredible adventure. A lot of what we experienced was activities that needed to include two big dogs, with a few ‘human-like’ things. Six years later and five trips taken, on my birthday in April of 2022, Karma lost her battle with time and passed away at the age of 14 1/2. We left for the sixth trip three days later. With the loss of Karma on my mind we took our time, driving the long way and headed straight down the middle of California to Yosemite and then on to Texas then Florida. It was the longest of the six trips we had taken. Mom knew I needed the time to reflect and relax before heading back to life. So, the return trip consisted of driving up the east coast feeling blessed for what I still had with me and mourning the loss of my best friend, Karma. As we hit Virginia, we decided to take a left and make it back to Spokane for my youngest nephew’s birthday. For the next three months my bond with my other dog, Albert Einstein, grew deeper. When suddenly one morning I woke to find him having a full blown seizure. After rushing him to the pet emergency, it was later determined that the seizure was caused by brain cancer. With my mom and sisters by my side I had to make the ultimate, heart-breaking decision and have Albert Einstein put to sleep so he would be out of pain. I went dogless for a month only to come across a Craigslist ad for a Siberian Shepherd with no pictures. Spontaneously, I emailed him and asked if he had any girls available, to which, a short time later he responded. After seeing one picture of three girls I was quickly in ahh of one in particular. She had the most mesmerizing heaven and earth eyes, one blue and one brown. I decided to go for it. When deciding what to name her, I figured it should be one of the two things that got me through losing my two best friends. Her name was going to be Faith, either that or antidepressant. So, with my twin sister and mom in tow, we drove to Seattle and I adopted one of the most beautiful and energetic puppies I’ve ever laid my eyes on. While training the new puppy, I asked my mom, “So, do you want to do a seventh trip across country with this energizer bunny?” Her reply, “We will see, she should start to settle down at nine months old.” That being said and with fingers crossed, we started to plan the seventh adventure that would include the last eight states we hadn’t seen yet. This time with Faith as a new road trip companion. Then, with roughly two months to go, mom had a terrible accident on the stairs and bumped her head. Ending in an emergency surgery for a brain bleed caused by the blood thinners she had been taking for 35 years. We held vigil by her beside praying for a miracle. Unfortunately, on Valentines Day 2023 mom passed away. Left with the utter grief and shock of losing my three adventure buddies within a year, my brother-in-law made a unique suggestion. Why don’t the remaining family members go on that seventh trip and see the last eight states, all while leaving a little of mom’s ashes in each. Then we would proceed to Florida for her last wish, to be buried at sea.
This is a story full of sadness and loss, blossoming into grateful hearts coming together for mom to honor and memorialize. her. Family, learning how short life can truly be. Please consider following along for what is to come.