If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Tyler’s beloved Milly, she is the rescue dog Tyler adopted 4-5 years ago. Like her mom, Milly is one-of-a-kind. Literally- she is 1/2 black lab, 1/4 pug and 1/4 Boston Terrier. So she acts like a labrador in that she is very athletic, but she is small and occasionally when she’s really tired has adorable pug snorts.

We got our sweet Milly back to NC the Friday after Tyler’s service. Fortunately, a family friend was already planning to drive from Jackson to Rocky Mount that week with her own dogs, so Milly joined Shugg & Luv for the road trip home. When she first got to us, she was so happy to see our familiar faces and her cousin Bean, but it was absolutely heartbreaking to watch her search from room to room still hoping to find her favorite person of all.

            

Milly is going to be living with my dad now, splitting her time between the outer banks and Rocky mount, and is already loving her new life as a beach dog. Our beach house is on the sound and my dad has built Milly a ramp so she can go in & out of the water whenever she wants. Boat rides are her new favorite. She is already my dad’s shadow and follows him wherever he goes. She is adjusting from 10+ mile daily runs to maybe 1 mile runs, but getting plenty of exercise swimming every day. If you know my dad, you know he is an extreme neat-freak, to the point he barely lets us ride in his car. But he has totally embraced Milly into his life- black shedding fur, crazy car ride antics, sleeping under the covers, organic all-natural diet & all.

                    

Our whole family got to spend time with her this past weekend in Wrightsville beach, and Milly met someone very special to Tyler (story to come later). Having this sweet dog around makes us feel a little bit more whole, and my dad swears part of Tyler’s spirit is in Milly.