Hero Dogs.

 Ruby York(golden retriever)

A deafening noise, the sound of glass breaking all around you! The smell of something burning, people screaming and panicking, fear surrounds you. You sit motionless there in darkness wondering what to do. You instinctually follow your leg with your hand to your foot, finding your faithful companion whose eyes are your eyes. You’re blind and the chaos all around you is the noise of the plane that has just crashed into your office on the 101st floor in tower one. You are in the middle of an event that will change our landscape and the course of our American conscience forever. You know that whatever is going on, you can not navigate it alone and choose instead to save “your eyes” so she may help others, you set her free from her harness giving her the command, letting her know she is off duty. Willing her to save herself and like the faithful companion she is, she listens to you and then defies you. Instead she goes for help. She travels up eleven floors in the dark and finds your boss and brings him to you. He helps you. Together she leads you and hundreds of others out of the building. Now that you’re safe, she rushes back into war like conditions, realizing there is more work to do, saving hundred of others. She heads into the smoke filled inferno choking on the fumes of jet fuel, exhausted but determined she carries on.

When she returns, she is carried by her own unsung hero. With a broken leg, four scorched paws and severe smoke inhalation she is returned to you. She saved lives and by the grace of something bigger then all of us she survived. Paying it forward in an act of heroism that defies gender, color and species.

Her hero, a first responder obligated by uniform, compelled by humanity, tirelessly saving lives on a day that would over whelm the most seasoned of Veterans. Doing what is right not for praise but for the good of others. Pushing through pain, drowning in sorrow, held up by conviction, led forward by anger and energized by hope, all the while trying to navigate through a sea of terror. While the day was a harsh reality on that September day, this story is fiction. There was a dog named Rosalle who was a real hero that day. She saved her human that day, he is blind and his office was on the 78th floor. She got him home that night. The true stories of that day captivate us and crush us. They are the stories of hope and survival, of heroes.

Brian York ( Ruby's human) and Ruby York( golden retriever)

The animal heroes that serve our country and their handlers spend tireless hours searching for your loved ones, guarding our boarders and defending you from all the things you may never see, know, feel or have touch your life. These four-legged heroes change the lives of others everyday. Guide dogs, military dogs, research animals, search and rescue animals, medical needs animals and even our family pets. They are the unspoken heroes. To the child who can’t trust people but will talk for hours with a pet, or the grieving parent, spouse or child who’s loss only the cat, dog, bird or pet can understand. To the soldier who’s life is saved by his dog’s keen sense of smell and to the animals that make the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I can live. To the hiker or skier lost in the mountains found because of their canine rescuer. You are all heroes!

We all have a hero inside of us, we never know what we are capable of until we are put in harms way, or are trusted with a choice, or asked for help. Helping others is better then any drug. It transcends our logic and can transform our lives. Helping each other move forward, looking towards the future and giving us all someone or something to look towards. It all matters to the people whose lives are changed by acts of selflessness.

This is dedicated to all the animal and human heroes who make a difference in the lives of others. You inspire me to greatness and remind me to lend a hand to those who reach out to me and to others in their hour of need. To Denise, Brian and Ruby (the dog) thank you for all you do in the mountains of Colorado. To my husband Jacob who is my hero everyday, thank you for saving me and loving me and all the animals that come through our doors. We would be lost without you!