My heart stopped

In September I embarked on an adventure in Virginia – that is, if you consider 10 weeks of military schooling an adventure. A week before Thanksgiving and it is finally time to head home. So I hop on a flight headed back from Virginia to Hawaii with a short layover in Denver. The first leg was approximately 3hrs so I decided to do a little writing. With a few friends reaching out to discuss depression and military life, I thought it would be a good idea to tell my story and how running/working out, support from my family, and of course my dog have helped me overcome some of the most stressful times in my life. During that flight I wrote "My Silent Counselor"which is the story of how our rescue dog Lanikai has played such a huge role in just keeping me sane. I rest during the next leg to Hawaii - six hours of napping and movie watching. I land around 5pm, get off the plane and immediately hit with the ocean breeze flushed with hints of hibiscus flowers. The smell of home. I grab my bags and meet Kassie curbside. She's alone. I ask where TJ is and she proceeds with, "he's at home. Actually everyone is at the house......well, everyone except for Lanikai." I can hear the cracking in her voice as she begins to cry while trying her best to explain that Lanikai got out of our gate the night before and was hit by a car. I have no words. I cannot breath and my heart has stopped beating.

Lanikai was hit by a car and was rushed to the vet the night before; she ended up spending three nights there to make sure there were no life threatening internal injuries. Needless to say we went and visited her every single day she was there and as soon as she was able to come home, we brought her home. She spent over a week in a splint on her left front leg but the Vets all say that she seems to be healing well, so they removed it this week. It's been two weeks today since her accident, she's still limping and seldom wants to use her hurt leg, but she's definitely soaking up all the love and attention that she's getting right now. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's faking now – but that’s ok with me as long as she’s doing well and on the road to a full recovery.