In the summer of 2021, I lost a  dear loved one in a car accident, and was grieving deeply and unbeknownst to me at the time, so was Bella. She lost her owner tragically that summer too. I heard a voice whisper the name of Bella’s late owner, I thought it was strange. I knew no one is here and knew no one by that name. I hadn’t yet. I also found myself longing for a brindle boxer. I would look them up on instagram, I saw one at a wedding I was photographing and I was obsessed. Just two months later, I  met Bella. She jogged into the house and hopped up on the sofa and looked at me as if to say “I am here! Now what are we going to do!” Like she had been living here all along. Her and my late Pepper Ann, got along fabulously. They played rough. Bella was fast and Pepper liked to chase. I would watch Bella run up steep hills with Pepper’s ball in her mouth only to drop it at the top and run down after it. She would sprint the hill 5 times while I labored up! That is Bella. After our beloved Pepper passed, I witnessed Bella grieve. We were walking on our favorite trail where just the day before, we had all been, awaiting Pepper’s vet appointment. But now Pepper was no longer with us. She started to hang her head low, as if she was going to faint. Bella laid down in the middle of the trail, her chest and chin on the cool ground,  lost in her feelings. A guy with two puppies walked around us. She paid no attention. I just stood next to her, giving her the time she needed to feel the loss of our Pepper. Today, I know Bella’s days are fewer than the day before. She has an oncologist, a cardiologist and an optometrist. She is slowing down. I have lost my share of four legged family members. I know a little bit of how I will feel when her time comes too. Right now she gets extra brush time, extra walk time, peanut butter treats and for myself these photographs will tell her story and be my constant reminder of what she means to me long after she is gone. Two grieving souls that somehow found each other. She has the “need for speed” and loves to be goofy. I appreciate all of her just as she appreciates me. I see it everytime I take her for a walk and she looks back at me to make sure I am coming along. Together we have gotten along just fine despite our losses and heartaches.