In October of 2008 my wife and I got married; in February of 2009 I was brought in for my blood clot and had my surgery. By early June of 2009 my life and my marriage was in a lot of trouble. In this time I was at the lowest of lows and it would be another month before I started to reinvent myself. I was very angry with everything going on in my life. I was still limited at work and I was still going through the training for my pump. I was emotionally drained and very very angry. My wife was the one that I saw every day and she got a lot of the anger. When things went wrong I yelled at her, what I didn’t realize was the toll everything was taking on her. She had seen me in the hospital, had to deal with the doctors, family and friends and take care of me. As bad as I felt physically she felt the same mentally and emotionally. We were heading down a very bad road; a separation was not far away. Before things got really bad my mother texted my wife and I separately, about a dog that my Aunt and Uncle in Chicago had that they were looking to put up for adoption. My parents were in Chicago for my cousins’ graduation from high school, my mother would send pictures to each of us and say how great the dog was and that he would be perfect for us. I had no idea Leanne knew about the dog so I told my mother let’s do it, have the dog fly out and I will surprise Leanne. As I did that Leanne said the same to my mother, that evening during dinner Leanne and I finally talked to one another about the dog. We decided that we would take him in and make him a part of our family.
A couple of weeks after we discussed Dusty he was finally going to fly in to Providence and be a part of our family. Earlier in the day I received my insulin pump and was able to setup everything with no problems. I got my pump and Leanne got a dog that would save our marriage. We arrived at the airport that evening just in time to see Dusty come out from the baggage area in his crate. When I saw those eyes and this little face that was terrified of what was going on around him I just fell in love with him. Once we let him out of the crate he instantly jumped in to our arms as we squatted to pet him. Things did not get better overnight; I still had my moments of anger with my diabetes. Now however when this happened my wife would take Dusty for a walk. She would walk with him and be able to vent and relax, I would sit home cry and get my anger out.
Today Leanne and I have a marriage that I would put up against anyone’s; our past has made us who we are today. An amazing dog saved a marriage and he is still working his magic today. When things get rough as they sometimes will, my wife and I have a dog that we can talk and play with that makes things better. After a long day at work nothing is better than seeing Dusty come racing downstairs with a toy wanting to play fetch. He doesn’t know or care about the day I just had all he wants is to play and hangout with his owners. The Noonans of Chicago also deserve a big thank you, if it wasn’t for you this wouldn’t be possible.