When I first arrived at paws4people, I was plagued with nightmares from my time in the Army as a Mortuary Affairs specialist in Afghanistan. I was easily startled and constantly on high alert, and also suffered from chronic knee pain, shoulder pain from surgery, and migraines from a jaw implant. I struggled to pick up things, stand unaided, and maintain focus.
I was invited to the ‘Bump’, where I was introduced to several dogs that ran passed me. Just when I was feeling frustrated, BANKS ran up to me so excited, he almost knocked me over. I wasn’t sure about the connection, but my family assured me it looked like love at first sight.
I struggled to work through my years of avoidance and anti-social behavior. I eventually realized how to use BANKS as a way to work through situations that would normally have shut me down. I began to use BANKS as an aid to keep me grounded to my environment and to settle down with less anxiety.
When I took BANKS home it made an immediate impact on me and my family. I started to re-enter social life with my wife and children. My family was able to plan movies, dinners, and events. I even returned regularly to paws4people training to assist new clients and speak about my experience which I hadn’t been able to do before. I was even able to speak at fundraising golf tournaments!
Sadly, BANKS left us all too soon. But he left his mark, and paw prints, on my life forever. Although our family is grieving, my time with BANKS and paws4people has given me the ability to move forward and learn from the past.
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