December 30, 2012

White Dog and The White Dog Army sat with me and we reflected upon the year that would very soon be history. It was a busy year full of lots of twists and turns which were unplanned and a million events we never anticipated. The White Ones and I agreed that Steve becoming a student was one of those "who would have guessed" turns. And little did we expect at the beginning of 2012 that we would be organizing TWO walks to end cancer.

Puff scared the heck out of all of us when she ended up in intensive care with pulmonary issues last Spring. It broke our hearts to visit her locked in her oxygen kennel and we were very afraid that we would lose our tough old fighter. But the Power of the Paw and our belief in miracles provided Still Another White Dog with the strength and tenacity she needed to pull through and heal nearly completely.

The WDA certainly felt complete and full...until Oso joined us in the Summer and we all realized that we HAD been missing a Little Man with a calm demeanor and a fearless approach to making his way in the world. Oso galvanized the Army and introduced a deeper level of bonding within our Pack. And now we are Six.

We reached our 2500th post this year. When White Dog and I began this journey nearly eight years ago, we never expected to reach either this milestone or the fullness of heart it brings us. This year we saw our Blog family through trials, losses and oh, so many triumphant moments that we all shared and supported, cried and cheered through. It was a blog year that reminded us so often of what a wonderful close-knit community we are a part of and what an enclave of very special and caring four- and two-leggeds surround us.

In September and again in November we felt the incredible assembly of Spirit gathered to stand as one against the evil c monster as we asked for...and got...the support and participation of an incredible army of Warriors united and daring to dream of a day when cancer.touches.NO.one. And thanks to all of the Warriors across the world, the Princeton breast cancer study you helped 2MillionDogs fund has made significant progress in finding genomic markers in canine tumors that are the first step in learning how to turn off the "become malignant" command within the cells. This research is now expanding to the human realm as we were able to fund Phase 2 of the this groundbreaking study with this year's Walk participation.

White Dog turned eight in December and once again, our community was there to celebrate and to make The Little White Dog of My Heart's day one of howlingly beautiful joy. Your Pay It Forward actions in tribute to WD reminded us that there is goodness and hope still alive and actually driving the course of the world...despite the headlines and the publicized meanness and the seeming loss of compassion. What wonderful gifts you gave! This was a highlight of our year.

2012 has been a year filled with blessings. We always found the tools we needed to face the challenges thrown at us and have never faltered for lack of loving support.

Are there things still left on the list we would change? You bet. Every creature would have a home and a true friend. The human world would learn about respect and compassion for the planet and all of its inhabitants. No one would suffer or watch a loved one be in pain from disease. But we are working on these and we know we are not alone. We carry into 2013 hope and confidence that slowly we will continue to solve the ills and create a world that is a beautiful realization of the best that we are. Onward to the future.

And that is the White Dog Army review of ourYear that was.