23/02/2022
This one hurts a lot in a good/bad way. Sammy wasn’t our typical “purpose bred purpose trained service dog”, truthfully he was slightly dysmorphic and homely for Labrador standards. None of that mattered because he was Jim’s angel. Jim is more like the typical veteran than some would like to admit. A Cold War era veteran with the highest statistical probability of killing himself. No combat experience, no stories of heroics (which come as the result of poor planning), just a normal dude that served honorably nothing more, nothing less. Jim left the service with a severe speech impediment that affected his ability to find & maintain meaningful employment. Because of this he turned to a life of civilian service, volunteering wherever he could and just generally doing good deeds, he’s the epitome of “good dude”. His unflappable faith in the Lord was tested when he was buried in the the rubble of his home during the 2011 Joplin tornado. He barely survived and his then service dog passed away shortly after spending years rebuilding his life. Enter L4L by chance or something divine. We put 7 months of training on Sammy and a few nights at the frat house and maybe some public access here/there. He paired in January 2015 and I can still remember Jim’s voice from that old video at the airport when they first met with as much jubilation as Jim could vocally produce “Sammy my boy”. Sammy didn’t change Jim’s life, he empowered it. He became the tangible piece that would serve as the bedrock that Jim needed to rebuild his life and begin serving his community again. The 6 years Sammy served Jim were compounded by the service Jim did for his community and the impact of those actions will likely last another decade. What Sammy taught L4L was in comparison menial but just as impactful. The unspoken mission turned into empowering veterans to be better community leaders, husbands, wives, parents, entrepreneurs, etc. with the ultimate goal of building up our communities from their core. We had no desire to give someone a dog just so they could survive, if you weren’t planning on learning, growing, and contributing to your circle in a positive way I personally had no desire in wasting our stakeholders or volunteers time, much less my own. Sammy is now very much gone but his impact will be felt for years because Jim will continue to serve his community and as long as he’s a part of the L4L family he will have a solid foundation to empower him. Sammy isn’t our first dog to pass but one of the OGs that defined L4L in the early days. More will go in years to come, a few that I’m not really sure how we will cope with. But as long as there’s an Outpost the L4L family will have a place to find respite, relive, and reflect with the end-state remaining unhindered, impact your circle/community in a positive manner. ---Jake Nold
