A member of our community lost her best friend of almost twenty years on May 6th. She gave us her blessing to share his story, in her own words, as a memorial to him. Meet Buddy Bear.

His name was Buddy Bear.

I named him after the very first teddy bear I ever had the one I’ve held onto since I was three years old. That teddy bear went with me to all my appointments growing up. I have cerebral palsy, and Buddy Bear the teddy bear got me through my whole childhood. So when this little Shih Tzu came into my life and turned out to be that special, there was only one name that could ever fit him.

He was just five weeks old when I got him. A big dog had ripped out the back of his neck, and I honestly didn’t know if he was going to survive. I couldn’t believe the people who bred his parents who discarded a hurt little puppy at five weeks old. My mother found him and knew that him and I needed each other. So she brought him to me. I nursed him back to health, and he made it.

We were both broken when we found each other. And we were inseparable from that day on.

For almost twenty years, he was my best friend. Because of me he got a life, and because of him I got so much more than I ever gave. He made me a better person more considerate, more patient.

Since I’m disabled, he got me up and moving, out walking and exercising more than I ever would have on my own. He lit up my heart like nothing else in this world ever has.

And he could read my mind. That was his quirk I’ve had a lot of dogs in my life, and I’ve never had one who even came close. He just knew me.

I’ve been a dog rescuer all my life. I’ve saved countless dogs and cats, found forever homes for some and given a forever home to others. I fully believe that my heart would have given out from the cerebral palsy long ago if not for all the love those animals gave back to me. Rescuing them was my calling. And Buddy Bear was the greatest gift that calling ever gave me.

I lost him on May 6th, to congestive heart failure and a collapsed trachea. Almost twenty years together, and I would give anything for twenty more.

I will never forget my little guy, or how perfectly that precious soul completed me.

Rest easy, Buddy Bear. Thank you for choosing me.

                                                                    —

Story and photos shared with permission by LeeAnna Nicole Hopkins-Hendon Buddy Bear’s mom and lifelong animal rescuer. All rights to Buddy’s story remain hers.