My grandfather did a thing this year that really touches my heart. He had these photos of our childhood dog, Sally, running in the snow in front of the #historic #hammady #house in #flint #michigan, which my family used to own. The house is along the #flintriver and has some crazy history. My parents and grandparents bought it at auction from the #cityofflint before I was born. We had many dogs in that house when I was a kid, but Sally stands out the most. Sally was a stray #germanshepherd that wandered up to the iron gate one day. My grandmother was a sucker for dogs just like I am. That’s probably where I get it. We had something like 7 dogs at one point, all strays. Sally though, she was our #nannydog. As babies, when we were laying on the floor, she laid her head over our backs. Good luck getting anywhere near us if she didn’t know you or didn’t like you 😂😂 she followed us everywhere. When we learned to walk, she walked with us. When we went outside to play on those 7 acres of land, Sally was with us. Never not once were we without her until the day she passed away. She’d walk just ahead of us and kind of circle around us as we walked around d the property (which was fenced in, bc this was a historic mansion on 7 acres... in Flint) and make sure we didn’t run into any wild animals or dangers. Sometimes we’d run into other kids along the fence line, where their yards butted up to ours. Sometimes they’d climb the fence and come and play but Sally kept an eye on them. It was magical. I remember I used to walk around feeling like I was growing up in like a Secret Garden movie or something. It’s not the best photo of Sally or the house, but it’s a perfect encapsulation of life and those memories. I cried when I opened it. Papa put one together for me and for my sister for Christmas, and I received it yesterday bc my mom is a slacker (kidding mom!) Papa is **90** and he picked this photo and had it blown up and framed and wrapped them and wrote our names on the tags. I love that man. His heart is so pure. I loved this dog and this house. I’m so happy to have a bit of “back home” in my “now home.” #nerdzilla #bloggersofinstagram #writersofinstagram #memories (at Columbia, Tennessee)
