It was 2 years ago today that I lost one of my best Friends — my dog companion, Nooka … My brother and I found Nooka across the street from a truck stop when she was roughly 2 years old back in the summer of 2006 — well, it is far more accurate to say that Nooka actually found us on that day. We were hunting for landscaping stones in an abandoned industrial lot there when Nooka charged right up to us, wagging her tail and licking us and rolling over to entice us to scratch her belly. She was such a sweetheart and so effusively hilarious that we both busted out laughing at her antics.

After approaching the lone resident nearby to ask if she was his, he sneered at us and deadpanned a surprisingly cold-hearted, “I don’t know whose she is, but she’s been driving me crazy. You should go ahead and take her.” Well, that was enough permission for me, and we promptly loaded her into mom’s pickup truck and Todd sat with her while I drove her home to the farm …

While less than thrilled with her initial arrival, Nooka was so cute and so sweet and so loving that mom warmed to her right away and agreed to let her stay. And so stay she did, for the better part of the next ten years — bringing peace and joy to whomever she met along the way. Indeed, it is more than fair to say that absolutely everyone — with the exception of the local coyotes and mom’s cats (only whenever they got too close to her food bowl) — absolutely adored Nooka. And it is just as fair to say that Nooka absolutely adored everyone in return … She was the sweetest dog I have ever met, and I still miss her to this day.

RIP, dear Nooka … and THANK YOU so much for finding us!

Filed under: Practical Tips for Peace-full Living by Scaughdt