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You are here: Home / PTSD / So, you’re starting a blog about a dog…

So, you’re starting a blog about a dog…

November 28, 2016 by Cathrine Hoekstra

My husband Sam, pictured with his service dog, Memphis in April 2016
For as long as I can remember, I loved writing. From printing my name over and over as a child, writing it in cursive with a bubble for a dot over the “i,” and of course, trying my best to write my name as sloppily as possible. I love writing stories, notes, lists, essays, heck, I even opted to write a Master’s Thesis instead of taking the Comp Exam.
When my husband was paired with his service dog, I began making lists of things people would say to us. Weird right? I used an app called li.st to make notes, complain, and keep track of some of the nice and not so nice things we hear when we are in public with Memphis.
I found that those lists, those notes, they help me. They help me laugh about how people point out the obvious, like shouting, “THAT MAN HAS A DOG!!” Yes, yes he does. They help me remember what we hear, and in a way, they help me refocus my thoughts to educate and provide information to people about service dogs…thus, a blog was created!
Why does my husband have a service dog? Because he is a Veteran who suffers from PTSD and TBI. He wanted a service dog so he could feel like a person again, a person he’d lost when he was deployed.
Since Memphis has been part of our family for seven months now, some of the posts will back track to how Memphis became part of our family, the process my husband went through in terms of receiving a service dog, opportunities we’ve had since Memphis has been in our family, and of course, your daily dose of doggy cuteness. I’ll also post links to the organization that helped my husband, give information about service dogs, and how to talk to Veterans who have a service dog.
So, this is our journey with Memphis. I hope you come back to check out our stories!

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Filed Under: PTSD, service dog, TBI, Uncategorized, Veterans

Comments

  1. Tally Fralish Robbins says

    November 28, 2016 at 12:42 am

    ❤️

  2. Cathrine Hoekstra says

    November 28, 2016 at 12:49 am

    Photo Cred: Aunt Tally 🙂

  3. Cleta Shirley says

    November 29, 2016 at 3:47 am

    Can't wait…

  4. Donna Stoodley says

    November 29, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    Love that Memphis is with you guys…this is a great way to share your journey..

  5. Cathrine Hoekstra says

    November 30, 2016 at 2:46 am

    Love that we got to meet you and Cleta through TAV! 🙂

Trackbacks

  1. #FlashbackFridayBlogPosts says:
    February 24, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    […] My very first blog post was about writing a blog…about a dog. Here’s the link https://walkingwithmemphis.com/2016/11/so-youre-starting-a-blog-about-a-dog/ […]

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