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There are moments in life that you can replay over and over in your head. You can feel the wind, you can see the birds overhead. They are burned into your memories and you will never forget. That is the day I met our boy Crosby.

When we had fewer kids, we often had more paws than feet in our home. We would foster dogs from a local rescue, Alberta Animal Rescue Society. We had already experienced the joy and pain of fostering these beautiful animals, and had seen our pups find loving homes, some of whom would send us updates at the pups would grow up. Crosby should not have been any different. We knew he would be a longer term foster as he was injured and needed to heal before he would be adopted. This handsome boy had been what was suspected, hit by a car and his one ear was frostbitten off. He was definitely a bit worse for wear.

I drove up to Deerfoot City to meet the animal transportation team and anxiously awaited our new addition. This was always so exciting, and also a bit nervewracking as you never really knew what you'd be getting. Crosby ran across the parking lot to me, one ear flopping, and I thought to myself "oh no. I am a goner. I can't ever give this dog back!". He was the most majestic, broken, beautiful dog I had ever seen. He jumped right up front with me in my Pathfinder and tried to be a lap dog the whole drive home.

Crosby settled in nicely after being introduced to our daughter and our dog, Maeby. Without saying anything, I ordered him a custom collar and tags. I hadn't told my husband this, but knew he felt the same way. Crosby was home.

For the next year, Crosby was by my side. He went on car rides and drank all my ice caps left in the car if I ran in to pay for gas. He would escape and tour the neighbourhood with Maeby, she was the instigator and he was just along for the adventure, and his eyes always lit up when I would find him, call him back to the car. I always found him running up and downstairs to other homes as if he was looking for the right one. Crosby chewed only one shoe of each and destroyed my Twilight paperback novel. He must have not been into vampires or something.

Crosby helped me survive some of the hardest and darkest days of my life. The thing about dogs is that they have such soulful eyes, they don't need words. Just a head in the lap, patience, and protection. He was so sweet, never once had an accident and I felt he would grow old with us, but life is not always fair, and this beautiful boy who had such a rough start to life, only had a few golden years.

About 8 months after our daughter Isla was born, we noticed Crosby unable to walk up stairs. He was coughing and could no longer swallow. Many tests, visits to the vets office, it was determined that Crosby's body was in autoimmune failure. We would give him medications, and for a brief moment, his energy would return and we thought there was a miracle happening, and then they'd wear off and he'd be even worse. There was nothing we could do. In one week we watched this majestic beast, who was full of muscles and a thick gorgeous coat of fur, turn into a skeleton. We made the impossible choice to have him euthanized at less than three years of age.

The four of us brought his favourite ball and leash. A letter from Brookie that she wrote to him, all to be cremated with him. We held his paw, and stroked his fur and told him it would be okay. I never knew that picking up a worse for wear pup in a mall parking lot would amount to me sobbing on a veterinary clinic floor. He deserved so much more life. It was just not fair. Almost eight years have passed since that day, and I remember every detail, and still am in tears writing him, he left an imprint on our hearts forever. I have promised that we will continue to help other animals like Crosby in his honour and will gift any prize money to AARCS here in Calgary in his name.

If you know the poem "The Rainbow Bridge", a fellow rescue friend told me to ask for a sign from him that he made it there safely. As I sat in my car, trying to gather myself enough to drive, the song " I'm Already There" by Lonestar came on the radio, and peace came over me that our boy made it.