Many of you know that for the past 12 years I have taken part in a "ritual" of sorts on 9/11 with some firefighters that went to Ground Zero and searched the rubble for their fallen brothers. This ritual consisted of me taking the therapy dogs, Caterina and Drift, and listening to the stories as they reminisced whilst petting the dogs.

This year, with Drift's passing in January, I found myself without a fully trained dog. I was not sure what to do, so I packed up Eleven and headed out.

This year was bittersweet. Along with the passing of my dogs, we also lost one of the old guard to lung cancer - likely caused by rushing into burning buildings to save others.

So this year, in addition to the stories of Ground Zero, we also added fond memories of our lost - both human and canine. And we made new memories with the new firefighters that had joined the crew, and with Eleven added to the mix.

I was not sure how they would react to Drift's loss, and the addition of Eleven, but they welcomed Eleven with warm hearts, and comforted me for my loss with those same warm hearts....

I have always had a soft spot for firefighters, but these guys.. my guys... they are the best...

Just wanted to share.

Kel

PS - Miss Toni (the dog in my signature pic) turned 14 yesterday as well We celebrated with cupcakes and Eleven and I brought the extras with to the fire house

My best buddy is a retired firefighter and he always has a hard time on 9/11.

I too admire firefighters immensely , Their work is so hard, endless and dangerous.
I also admire dogs who enter such areas of catastophies and are of so much help,
I admire you, Kelly and Bob, who train dogs for such purposes, It means you too have to run lots of risks as well.

I1ll never forget 9/11. It was an immense shock for me, when I saw it on TY. I at first thought, it was just a stupid movie! Only a few moments later I got aware this was dreadful truth.

I wish you all and to the whole world that such thing won't happen again, though it's not realistic. I have always been an optimist throughout my life. But nowadays, thinking about all those attacks almost worldwide, all the increasing natural catatastrophes, fires, storms, flooding, landslides, droughts, disappearance of wild animal lifes, pollution of oceans and forests, I must admit I'm seeing more black.

Thank you for sharing, Kelly. XOXOXO

And happy fourteenth birthday to Toni!

Kelly, thank you for sharing that beautiful story of love and comfort still being given generously by people -- and dogs! -- to those who are still suffering the lasting physical and emotional effects of the attacks of 9/11. I hope they know how much their courage and sacrifice is appreciated by all of us.

A belated Happy Birthday toToni!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/clydesdales-show-respect-9-11-155207899.html

Thank you for your continuing memorials, Kelly -- My cousin is the Fire Chief at SFO ... Our family went to visit Ground Zero in June of 2002 while the recovery work was still being undertaken, and it was emotionally overwhelming for all of us /// Hope the video clip above will open (there are NO special FX used in it, either for the locations OR for the Clydesdales, so be prepared for a Tissue Alert).

I wasn't able to view that ... it said to sign in. I did find this on youtube ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3eQmzw6n3k



And this story about it ...

https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2017/09/11/the-story-behind-the-911-budweiser-commercial-that-only-aired-once/23204869/

Thank you, Candi and Connie. I remember seeing that a long time ago, and it's still just as powerful and emotional.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I wasn't able to view that ... it said to sign in. I did find this on youtube ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3eQmzw6n3k



And this story about it ...

https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2017/09/11/the-story-behind-the-911-budweiser-commercial-that-only-aired-once/23204869/

Oh, thanks so much for these 2 extra links, Connie!

That commercial always brings a tear to my eyes.....