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THE NARRATIVE ARC
My Dog Tegan Realized Her Destiny
A lab’s leap of faith — and of love
“You need to come now,” my stepdad said, “Your mom’s in the hospital.”
It was a four-hour drive from Oregon through the Columbia River Gorge. Navigating I-84 along the 80-mile river canyon is dangerous in good weather. In October 2011, I anticipated rain. Maybe worse.
But Mom wasn’t well, and I had to be with her. In recent months, her COPD worsened, and she didn’t tell me about her cancer. I found that out later.
My stepdad, a man of few words, didn’t say much. I raced out of my driveway in Oregon without a change of clothes and wearing flip flops.
I drove without stopping to Biggs Junction and crossed the bridge across the Columbia. Through Goldendale and into Native American country, where wild horses run in the fields and little homes dot the landscape in clusters.
Down the hill I drove, into the Yakima Valley. Past Wapato, the small town where Mom grew up. When I got to the hospital in Yakima, I called Jay from the parking lot to let him know I made it.
Hard to believe it was 2011, a year I’ll never forget.
That was fourteen years ago, the year we got Tegan. Tegan Marie of the Yellow Bear…
