What’s in a Name? The Connection between man & animal

Cana was my Shepherd/Husky dog. I rescued her in 2007 while stationed in the military out in California. Anytime I had something to think about, (deployments, Lisa and I having children and our 3 miscarriages, school in Pennsylvania, Anna and our scare with Isaac (he was not going to live past 6 months), beating the MCAT (twice), finding a house and moving to the high plains. Cana and I would go for a run. She was my furry buddy for 8 years. Fast runner, fun to pal around with and a great hunter.

 On Sunday November 22, 2015 we drove Cana to the vet. My journal entry:

        1030 at night. Drove Cana this morning (missed church) to vet 1 ½ hour away. She had high temp and would not eat. Only lay in the cool yard.

We found out that she was anemic, had an enlarged heart & they are keeping her for 2 days. We know better than to rest on the Sabbath. The following day while I was doing research at the medical school, my wife got a hold of me and informed me that Cana had a tumor on her spleen and in her heart. We brought her home to make her comfortable; she made it past Thanksgiving and even had energy in her.

Sunday night the 29th she really started to slow down & on our living room floor at 11:54P.M. She left. As she was going from this life looking into each other’s eyes my wife informed me that I was actually scratching into our wood floor, my body was burning up but I was cold to the touch. That night I placed her collar ID tag around my neck, it has yet to leave.

My favorite author Joseph Marshall III made a comment about wolves. They are mistaken in folklore, in 9 out of 10 hunts their prey gets away and they fail. It’s a humble feeling going hungry and it’s also humiliating. Perseverance is a trademark of the wolf.

I named her Cana as her double thick coat reminded me of the biblical story of the wedding at Cana & what possible color the six stone jars that were used in Jesus’s 1st miracle.

The legacy will live on in perseverance for an entire nation.