I guess it was about 7:30 or close to 8PM, as it was just beginning to get dark. It was a pleasant evening, so I was walking around the yard. As I walked over near my car, I noticed this little black lump laying next to it... curled up. It was some sort of animal. Understand that I built my house in a remote area, near a mountain range. So I have had most everything from bears to coyotes to foxes to skunks and everything in between come up here at one time or another. To me, at dusk, this looked like a bear cub. I would never worry about a bear cub... but I know that if a big man is seen as a threat to a cub by even a small mama bear, always put your money on the small mama bear. I slowly got closer to it and saw that it wasn't a bear, it was a dog! A rather skinny Black Lab. She (found that out later) was just laying there, scared and pitiful looking. I didn't know if she was sick or maybe had rabies or what. But I got some water, set it down and then found a piece of pizza and left that by the water. She slowly got up and drank some water. Then she ate the pizza. Then she looked cautiously at me and waited to see what my next move was. I went inside and got my last slice of pizza and held it out for her. She took it from my hand. Then she looked at me with a kind of, "so, you're OK and won't hurt me, right?" look about her.

In the midst of the Great Recession - watching the value of my assets crash & burn (right along with most everybody else in the world), working for a company that was closely tied to GM and Chrysler (which had just declared Chapter 11 and looking like Chapter 7 liquidation), having recently lost my father (the most powerful force in my life) some time before that, dealing with an uncle/friend who was fighting a losing battle with cancer, around the time when I was being told by a doctor that I might have colon cancer (thanks for the death sentence there, Doc!), here was a dog... which refused to leave my side, no matter what. "You've had food and something to drink, now leave. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!" Didn't budge. I needed a dog to take care of like I needed another hole in my head. The year before, my cat, who had been with me for 16 years, had died - and my dad and my dog the year before that. No more dogs! No more cats! No more things or people to get attached to! I tried to find out where she came from, so I could give her back (she was very friendly - must have been some family's pet). I tried giving her away to some new family, as I was looking at possibly selling out and moving away - or maybe dying. No go. No one was looking to add mouths to feed to their homes back then.

My home is one of the most isolated properties in this area - by design! I bought this land and built this house with the expressed purpose of being left alone when I wanted to be left alone. But somehow, this dog had found me. Way up here! Bypassing so many other homes and places to go. How??? Why??? Don't know, but from that day forward, she stuck to me like glue. And rather than me taking care of the dog, the dog seemed to lift my spirits and take care of me. Hell, how is a man supposed to stay focused on being depressed or worry about dying when there's a crazy, 100mph dog chasing a squirrel around the yard?! And anyone who knows Black Labs knows that their dial to 10 is set on 11 at all times. Goofy, funny, energetic, annoying... sweet, loyal and loveable. After I finally let her start coming in the house (I've never been a "dog in the house" kind of person), I found out that she had an incontinence issue. But we dealt with it: medicine and doggy diapers (yeah, they actually make those!).

Anyway, last night we had a small gathering to celebrate the New Year. My dog attended (of course) and she wished everyone a Happy New Year by laying the love on anyone and everyone in the room. Even people who didn't like dogs laying and rubbing on them liked her.

About 2 hours ago, after I had laid out some tenderloin cutlets so she could have a special New Year's dinner, she didn't come bouncing up the steps, as she normally did when there was good food in the air. I figured she was out patrolling the property, enjoying this pretty Fall-like day, and would be back soon enough. But as I was on the phone, walking around the deck, I saw her laying by the deck on the ground - at first I figured she was napping (she loved to "sunbathe" in the yard). But when I called her name, she didn't respond by wagging her tail as she ALWAYS did (even if asleep). As I stared at her, I noticed that she wasn't breathing. I dropped the phone as I jumped off the deck, but she was already dead. I suppose she'd had a heart attack. So she went quick and didn't suffer. I don't even know how old she was. She'd been with me for 4 years and change. And she was clearly not young when she showed up here. The vet guessed she was at least 10-12 years old by now... maybe more. But she said Labs are like puppies right up until the day they die. And she was right.

Over the years, human friends have come & gone. Jobs have come & gone. Money has come & gone. Dreams have come & gone. Girls have come & gone (usually after they figured out that describing me as a "good catch" to their friends just made me see them as gold-diggers). But dogs take you as you are. You can be broke as a church mouse or rich as a king... you treat them right and they'll treat you right. They don't come & go. Even when they're gone, they didn't (willingly) go.

What is this about? Why did I write this? I've been here for going on 14 years. Especially in the early days, we shared a lot about ourselves. I've met a small handful of the people who post (or posted) here. We've shared stories about births, deaths, weddings... pretty much the whole shooting match. We've seen members move on. We've seen members die. So oddly enough, even for those who don't know me as anything but an avatar or as prickly (long-winded ) guy who has an obsession with cars and racing, I was more prepared to say what I needed to say about my (true) friend here, rather than to someone who knows me in real life... but probably doesn't know me at all (because I generally don't share much about myself in real life with people).

On New Years Day, as we looked forward to a healthy, happy, prosperous new year, my pal left... I think, had to leave. I think she had one last lesson to teach me, then she had to move on. I had one of the best years financially in 2013 that I have had in a couple of decades. I expected 2014 to be even better. But I sensed that I might be reverting back to my old ways, forgetting what really matters and focusing too much on finances. I used to be very bad about that (you just couldn't imagine). Believe what you choose to believe. But I believe that my friend came to me with the purpose of lifting my spirits in a time of darkness and then help me to be at least a little bit better of a person. It took a stray dog to teach me how to be a better human - and hopefully I've made a tad bit of progress. And maybe she left just now, so that I would be sure to remember that it's not how much money you have and not how successful you are with real estate or stocks or anything else. What matters is whether or not you appreciate the people (whether they have 2 legs or 4 legs) who make your life better. What matters is whether or not you do right by the people (2 or 4 legs) who do right by you.

So I wish each and every one of you a healthy, happy and prosperous 2014. I might have forgotten to say that... but someone reminded me a couple of hours ago. Appreciate your friends. Appreciate your families. Do it now... it may be later than you realize.