How Another Rescue Dog is Teaching Her Family that the Benefits of Canine Companionship Far Outweigh the Fear of Loss

We get a lot of fan letters and stories from people who have enjoyed our book, Life to the Max, but Jeff Munn took the time to send us pictures of his family’s beautiful rescue dog named Cinderella and the following story:

“Thank you so much for such a great book. I first became aware of it at McClintock Animal Care, where we take our best friend, Cinderella.

“I felt the sorrow right along with you when that moment came to say goodbye to Max, but what a wonderful way to describe Max’s journey to be reunited with Bernie. Having grown up with dogs, the thing that always prevented me from trying to convince my wife and kids to bring a dog into the house was the heartbreak you experience at the end. Last July, we were three months removed from having to say goodbye to the kids’ hamster, which broke all our hearts, when the family surprised me on my birthday with a webpage printout from the Arizona Animal Welfare League detailing Cinderella, a five year old lab mix. We immediately went to the League offices to adopt her.

“In the 13 months she has been with us, Cinderella has helped my daughter Hayley overcome her fear of dogs, lowered my blood pressure and has sent word to the neighborhood cats that they can’t camp out on top of our block fence anymore. She’s still working on our pigeon problem. I can’t imagine life without our Cinderella, and I’ve come to realize that while it will hurt when that day to say goodbye comes, it will be small compared to the joy she has and will continue to bring to us.

“You are so right about the staff at McClintock Animal Care. When our hamster, Cupcake, left us, Dr. Claus sent a sympathy card. Cinderella always produces smiles from the staff when she comes to visit. She loves to go bye-bye, whether it’s to the clinic, the Dog Park, or Petco, where she’s on a first name basis with the staff there as well.

“I know her name isn’t Max, but I thought I’d share her story and her picture. What a precious gift Max was, and what a precious book Max wrote with your help.”

As I wrote back to Jeff when he sent this story: beyond all the laughter, comfort and unconditional love our dogs give us, they also give us the opportunity to accept death as a natural cycle of life. Some people are surprised by the intensity of their feelings when our furry friends leave us, but why shouldn’t we be sad when we lose a relationship that has brought us so much joy? Even in death, they teach us that by overcoming our fear of letting them go, we have dared to receive so much more in return. God bless you and your family for giving Cinderella the opportunity to be your teacher.

You may recognize Jeff’s name as one of the radio voices from the Arizona Diamondbacks. We know he must be pretty busy these days so we appreciate the time he took to share this story with us.  Go D’backs and live Life to the MAX!