I had to find a home for my dog, Leroy. Meanwhile, I had an awesome dog trainer, Mike Borrielo, come to my old apartment while I was not around to be with him. I met Mike through a neighbor (Mishelle Meow) who had a friend, Megan, who knew Mike. We met both Mike and Megan one night and I am so happy that I got to meet them both! Mike worked with Leroy and his current roommates and Jenn. Mike was very helpful in teaching the people who interacted with the dog HOW to interact with the dog. That’s what a good dog trainer does… Trains dog owners. I was not able to take Leroy in my current state despite how much I wanted to. Because of Leroy’s behavioral issues, and how high energy he is, finding him a home was not at all an easy task. He’s a dog that takes a lot of work. I posted my situation on the internet and social network sites and told all of my friends to spread the word in order to find him a loving home. I was miraculously contacted by an old friend of mine, Whitney. She told me that her cousin, Candace, might be interested. Candace lived in Philadelphia.

I spoke to Candace, who was seriously interested. This seemed perfect. We could rent a car, and drive to Philadelphia with Leroy, drop Leroy off for the weekend for a test run with Candace, and go to see my family. Candace had two cats and a pit/greyhound mix named Kane. Leroy had lived with a Rhodesian ridgeback/pit mix before, and they got along great. He also used to live with two Chihuahuas at different times as well as two cats in a huge loft space (Huge for New York) in Brooklyn years ago. I was hoping that this scenario would work out.

Jenn, my mom, Leroy, and I rented a car for the weekend in September, 2011. We brought what we needed for Leroy and headed West to Pennsylvania. Leroy was great in the car. My ex-girlfriend, Jami, and I used to take him with us on a road trip to her parents cabin in Virginia and he was always good company on the road, so he had practice. This was going to be fun. I was excited.

I got to go on a road trip with my dog: one of my favorite things to do! We rented a car and drove to my old apartment to pick up Jenn and Leroy. I couldn’t wait and Leroy and Jenn were so excited too. My mom was trying to wind down a little after months of terror, and it still wasn’t even close to over, but she most certainly deserved something like a vacation.

Leroy, Jenn, and I went for a walk. He was again in step with my slow speed with a cane, and it was all going well. We loaded into the car and were on our way.

Leroy was great on the road, however, he did tend to bark at tollbooth attendants. It was so nice to be traveling with my dog, my best friend, and my mother. It felt like I was regaining life. I was just beginning to feel emotions other than primal ones. I now was enjoying myself. I was still in the woods, but there was hope on the horizon. While I was still surrounded by uncertainty, I was moving towards something. I had direction. And that direction was currently West towards Pennsylvania.

When we arrived in Philadelphia we found Candace’s house, met her outside, and we walked with Leroy, Kane, Candace and her boyfriend to the park nearby. I had both Candace and her boyfriend walk Leroy to get him to understand that they both were with us and part of “the pack.” It went well, and we walked back to her house. When talking with her inside, Leroy noticed one of her cats and lunged. I had him on a leash and quickly corrected him, but it was a bit troublesome for us all.

Candace was extremely sweet and we all felt very comfortable with us leaving Leroy with her for the weekend, even with Leroy’s questionable behavior with her cats. I mean… I don’t mean to brag, but he’s a good looking dog.

We drove away and I tried to remind myself that nothing was for sure yet… It’s just a weekend, but I began to get flashbacks of past good times that Leroy and I had shared together. My memory was full of holes from the brain injury, but I had a few flashbacks of us in a park in Brooklyn playing around. I was confident that he would have a good life if Candace were to keep him. And that is what really mattered.

I used to spend every summer with my grandmother in Pennsylvania while growing up. My parents both had some particularly close friends in PA who we used to visit: Rex and Marlene. When I was growing up, Rex and Marlene lived in Hershey with their son, Taylor. Taylor was born one week earlier than me and has become one of my best friends. He was certainly my best friend in Pennsylvania.

Every summer while growing up, I would see my family on my dad’s side. When I was in the hospital, many family members were reaching out to me and my mother and father and always wanted to know how I was doing. My great aunt Carol especially reached out a lot, and we owed her and others a visit. She is so sweet!

I then visited her, my uncle Paul and aunt Shirley, and my aunt Tina: all family on my dad’s side. I still spoke slowly, and it took a lot of effort to talk. This sounds awful, but it’s the truth: whenever someone would ask me a question and start a conversation with me, the first thing that went through my mind was “how can I end this conversation as soon as possible?”

Needless to say I wasn’t very talkative, but my mom was able to answer most questions. It was so nice to see my family and watch them talk amongst each other.

We planned on staying with Rex and Marlene in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey is cool. The street lights look like Hershey kisses, and Hershey Park, the amusement park of Hershey, is there. Taylor, my brother, and I used to go to Hershey Park just about every summer as kids. Rex and Marlene are such great people and I’ve always felt at home with them.

We stayed the night and made our way back to Candace’s. I was texting with her to see how Leroy was doing, and it seemed like he was pretty good, but wasn’t able to quickly adjust to the cats. We got there and talked for a bit, and Candace was so sweet about it, but Leroy was not adjusting to the cats so she decided to decline. I want to thank you again, Candace, for giving him a shot. We brought him back in the car and were now Brooklyn bound.

On our way back we stopped for gas and a bite to eat in Jersey. We needed to make it back to the car rental spot before a certain time, or they would charge another day. Jenn and I went in to get a bite to eat, leaving my mom and Leroy to get gas. New Jersey has a law that you are not to pump your own gas. An attendant gets payment from you, asks how much gas you want, and pumps it for you. When Jenn and I returned with a bucket of fried chicken, my mom told us what happened:

Leroy was in the front seat when the attendant came to the window. Leroy, being the over protective dog that he is, began barking at the attendant. My mom said that she grabbed his collar and looked in his eyes and said “Listen, Leroy… We need gas. That guy is going to get it for us. So sit down and quit acting like you have a job here!” Leroy sat down and listened to her like he understood every word. I used to tell Leroy how my day went and what was bothering me, and he’d sit down and pay attention. I don’t think that some dogs understand the English language or anything, but every dog that I’ve ever known has shown me how incredibly observant they are. Imagine watching a foreign film. You may not know what the characters are saying, but you can tell if they are fighting, joking, or if they’re about to kiss. Dogs can tell too. They pick up on emotions, tone, and inflections better than us… The reason I think that they pick up on these nuances better than we do is because we don’t solely rely on them to understand our surroundings. They do. It’s similar to how many blind people develop supersonic hearing to observe more because they can’t interpret the world visually. All animals adapt. We find a way to understand and interact with the world around us. Dogs are no exception. My mom says the Leroy sat down and was like “Oh. OK. I’ll just sit down then.”

We made it back to NY in time to drop Leroy and Jenn off and make it to the airport where we rented the car (cheaper rates) before they would charge us for another day. We dropped the car off and I hobbled while my mom helped me on a bus and then the subway back to the apartment on Park Ave.

It was a nice escape for a bit… It was a reminder of the world outside of my own troubles. I still had to find Leroy a home. The following day I continued to post about him, trying to find him a home before I was to leave in October. It was getting very stressful. I treated Leroy as my own son, and his wellbeing was a huge priority for me.

Previous post with Leroy: Leroy Brown

Next post with Leroy: Escape from New York

Final post with Leroy: Leroy’s Last Stand