Let''s face it—life is hard, very hard at times. But what can bolster the human spirit against sadness, illness, and even death? As far as I''m concerned, a 47-pound English Springer Spaniel. My memoir, The Moondog of Morristown: Life with a Canine Savant, is a lively, humorous, and deeply felt testament to this canine-centric philosophy.When I was dating my now wife Michele, she had a sweet but dim rescue dog that actually caught fire once without noticing. He was fine, but not much later, Harley passed away of other causes, and there was a hole in Michele''s heart. Enter Bosco. After a few days, it was decided Bosco should have a friend and that''s when I met the love of my life: Cernan. Named after my childhood hero, astronaut and moonwalker Gene Cernan, he was the brains of our newly formed Springer Spaniel duo. He could sing on command, regularly sniffed out money on walks that we donated to the animal shelters, and, on his own, learned how to turn on the TV with his paw regularly to watch basketball. But aside from these unusual skills, the greatest talent he and Bosco had was their ability to love one another and us unconditionally, as only dogs can. Over fifteen years while Michele and I lost close family, battled cancer, and had to abandon long-gestating wedding plans in the face of a global pandemic, our boys were there for us. With their compassionate souls, they brought goodness to the world when we and others needed it the most. We survived life''s challenges and thrived not with them, but because of them.This is the inspirational true story of the moments we shared with both of them. This story needed to be told.
