This picture likely means nothing to most HOTties.

And that’s understandable since very few, if any readers, know where this picture was taken. I took it in a development near my current home. I need to clarify that my current home is across the street(well, actually a busy highway)from my former home that Jamey, Caeley and I lived in.

For the new reader, that house was an early 1800’s farm house . Here’s a view of what our back yard of the old home used to look like years ago:

That’s me, little Caeley and my really old shared dog Callahan in my backyard. In the background, you can see the open expanse of grassland and fields. I used to be able to put Caeley in a stroller, leash my dogs(Tug and Bess)…

and go for a healthy stroll through that open grassland and into the development you saw in the first picture. Both Tug and Bess were frequently walked in the neighborhood in the first picture.

Jamey, Caeley(mostly in her stroller) and I took that journey many times.

Over time, the open field behind our old home was purchased, built upon and turned into its own development.

It was no longer accessible from our backyard and we could no longer wander into the neighboring development.

And, over time, Cael outgrew her stroller, Jamey lost the ability to walk the dogs(and I could never walk both Tug and Bess since they were both large and dog-reactive) so I no longer walked the dogs in the area.

Fast forward nearly a decade….it’s 2024.

As you all know, Jamey has since passed on.

Sadly, Bess and Tug, my heart dog, have both passed on as well.

After the move and no real reason to ramble on through the old development, my only passage through there was in a car.

Until a little over a year ago.

I’m now the carepartner to the most ridiculously goofy, smart and independent dog ever, Hazel…

On August 31st, 2024, we celebrated the one year anniversary of the “I promise we’re not keeping her—we’re only fostering her for four days” delusion I attempted to convince myself of.

I never intended on keeping her. I was still so upset after losing Tug suddenly and tragically.

I didn’t want to make another commitment to a dog. Tug had a significant health condition that required a lot of attention and money.

I would’ve(and did) gone /goto the ends of the earth for him. It wasn’t enough in the end.

I fostered dogs in the summer of 2023 after a Tug passed away with no intention of adopting any of them.

Hazel had other plans.

One year she timidly climbed into our back seat, trembling, toy in mouth, she’s a member of our family.

She’s not Tug. She doesn’t adore me and only me like Tug did. That’s ok. That’s not healthy for anyone, anyway.

She’s no longer timid. She no longer trembles…but she still greets us every morning with a toy in her mouth

Back to the picture at the beginning of the post.

I was walking Hazel through the development when I took that picture. It was Father’s Day, 2024. The place where that picture was taken with the fences used to be where I would enter with Caeley in her stroller and Tug and Bess on either side of me as puppies. Now that that area has been developed, that’s impossible. Jamey wasn’t there to walk with us. Neither was Tug or Bess. As difficult as that reality is some times, walking past the area reminds me of what life used to be and brings about a nostalgic calm.