My mama died in 2010. Unmoored, I lurched through the next four years, which were filled with additional challenges unrelated to her death that I never could have anticipated. And through it all, there was Benny… and Benny’s Barking. Mama’s bad dog shared the life raft with me like the wild animals in Life of Pi. With his frantic, piercing and nearly CONSTANT barking, I was trapped with him and my grief while trying to navigate the shark infested waters of a new job in politics.

This blog is about how one very bad little dog got me through grief, burn out and recovery. It’s not going to be perfectly written. There might be some bad metaphors (see above!) as I’m still figuring things out. But, I think some of it just might be worth sharing.