I came into this world fighting.

A birth in 1971, high forceps, lungs unready, fingernails absent—

my first breath already a struggle, my first fight already begun.

Childhood was shadows, whispered horrors,

a body betrayed by those who should have protected me.

Molested. Disbelieved. Abused.

Fights with my father began in sixth grade.

Teachers who should have guided me instead harmed me.

Bullies, institutions, and endless rules I couldn’t survive without scars.

I ran.

I ran through streets, through fear, through hunger and nights that never seemed to end.

Locked in sheds, stabbed, threatened, chased, forced into unthinkable acts—

yet I survived. I survived when others fell.

I found fragments of safety in the kindness of strangers:

a woman unloading groceries, her children safe inside,

a warm pizza, a hand extended, a voice telling me I would be okay.

I survived exploitation, abuse, heartbreak, and loss.

I survived decisions no child should make,

decisions that left pieces of me scattered across time.

And yet…

I found Finn.

My cardiac and psychiatric service dog.

My anchor in chaos, my guardian in fear.

He alerted me to my racing heart, held me through dissociation,

and reminded me—somehow—that life could be endured, even cherished.

He crossed the rainbow bridge on November 25, 2025.

A hole remains where his paws once grounded me,where his eyes once reminded me that I mattered.

Now comes Åusmund (Åus)—God the Protector.A German Shepherd, a promise, a new beginning.Together we learn, we heal, we survive.

Some days are harder than others. Some days my heart refuses to obey,

and my PTSD whispers that the world is unsafe,but I keep taking steps, no matter how small.

Service Dog Nation is my mission, my purpose, my lifeline.

Educate. Advocate. Empower.

To share the quiet, powerful magic that dogs like Finn and Åus can bring—to give hope, stability, and protection to othersand second chances to rescue dogs who need it too.

This is my story.

A story of trauma, survival, loss, and love.A story of the heart, of the mind, and of the paws that walk beside me.A story still being written, step by step, day by day.

IGY6: A Nation That Has Your Back