Houston — Karen Killian

“When an eighty-five pound mammal licks your tears away
and then tries to sit on your lap, it’s hard to feel sad.”
~ Kristan Higgins

A new painting and new friends, with a great dog and good story.

Before Houston, and before Houston, the Mrs. of this happy family of two fell ill. So they traveled to Houston, Texas, for help. There she endured chemotherapy treatments that damaged her retinas, but saved her life. On her path to recovery, she was advised that she would likely need an assistance dog.

Enter the Mr., who had forever and strongly insisted that they had no use for a smelly, shedding, wolfing-down-food and god-knows-what-else pest of a creature in their immaculate home.
~Aside: I’d like a dollar for every husband I’ve known who protested like this and then turned into the biggest, mushiest, puppy-smoocher on the planet after he had inevitably lost that battle!

Curve balls have a way of derailing the staunchest of rules! I think it’s funny, touching, dramatic, and absolute that the Mrs. would propose to her devoted husband: “If I live, can I have a dog?” They chuckle when they relate this gem in their story now.

Enter Houston… a fresh, new life that came along, clearly to embody the angel that she is. She was named after the healing place in Texas, and from puppyhood was trained to guide the Mrs… perfectly! When I was photographing her on a chaise in their bedroom, the Mrs. left for the kitchen (she’s doing very well) to fetch some treats. Houston sat in her pose (she’s secretly a prima donna), but never for a second took her eyes from the doorway. I was going through my usual bag of tricks to get her to look this way or that, but I could have set loose an army of squirrels wielding firecrackers, and she wouldn’t have broken her attention… a loyalty that filled the room!

This is Houston, kissed by the sun, grounded by purpose, a living gift on the stairway of life.