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[Tironianae 🍊🍊 Z. - Ultra Verbum Vincet @Tironianae]

Definitely worth resharing. Wish more Democrats realized President Trump is a good man with a huge heart ❤️

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@Mimiiben1 5. Took less than 3 seconds to solve.

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@21xooaes Fascinating. This is the understanding, in simple terms, we should be taught. Great stuff!!

[Michelle Maxwell ™ @MichelleMaxwell]

The neighbors call the cops on my dad every six months. They think he’s running a fighting ring or flipping pets for profit. For years, I wasn't sure they were wrong.

My father, Frank, is a man of few words and even fewer friends. He lives on a fixed income in a small, weathered house just outside of town. He’s 68, walks with a limp he got in ’71, and spends most of his day in his garage.

But his most controversial habit involves the local animal shelter.

Like clockwork, Dad brings home a dog. Not the cute puppies everyone wants. He picks the "unadoptables." The three-legged pit bulls, the senior labs with gray muzzles, the curs that cower in the corner. For six months, that dog lives like royalty. I’d visit and see Dad hand-feeding them steak scraps, walking them for hours, talking to them in a soft voice he never used with me.

Then, six months later? Gone.

The dog vanishes. No photos, no collar left behind. Just an empty bowl and Dad driving his rusted pickup truck to the shelter to get another one.

"Where’s Barnaby?" I asked last Sunday. Barnaby was a one-eyed Golden Retriever mix he’d had since spring. That dog worshipped the ground Dad walked on.

"Moved on," Dad grunted, staring at his coffee.

"Moved on? Did you sell him, Dad? The neighbors are talking. They say you’re sick."

"Let them talk."

I couldn't take it anymore. I loved Barnaby. The thought of my father selling that sweet soul to some stranger for a few hundred bucks made my stomach turn. So, when I saw him load a bag of high-grade kibble and a new leash into his truck the next morning, I followed him.

I expected him to drive to a breeder or a shady parking lot exchange. Instead, he drove two towns over to a drab apartment complex near the VA hospital.

He pulled up to a ground-floor unit. I watched from my car, phone ready to record evidence, as he knocked on the door.

A young man answered. He couldn't have been older than 25, but he looked 50. He was missing his right arm, and the way he stood—tense, scanning the perimeter—screamed PTSD. I recognized that look. I’d seen it in Dad’s old photos.

Dad didn't say a word. He just whistled.

From the passenger seat of Dad’s truck, a dog jumped out. It wasn't Barnaby. It was "Duke," a German Shepherd he’d had last year. Duke looked incredible. Focused. Calm. He trotted right up to the young man and sat by his left leg, leaning his weight against the boy’s thigh.

The young man crumpled. He fell to his knees, burying his face in Duke’s fur, sobbing. Duke didn't flinch. He just held his ground, anchoring the boy to reality.

Dad handed the young man a thick envelope. Not money—paperwork. Vaccination records. Training logs.

I got out of my car. "Dad?"

He jumped, looking more terrified than I’d ever seen him. He walked me away from the boy, lowering his voice.

"You weren't supposed to see this."

"You trained him," I realized. "You didn't get rid of them. You trained them."

Dad sighed, lighting a cigarette with shaking hands. "A fully trained PTSD service dog costs anywhere from fifteen to thirty thousand dollars. The insurance doesn't cover it. The VA has a waiting list a mile long. These boys... they come home, and they can't sleep, they can't go to the grocery store, they can't breathe."

He looked back at the young man, who was now smiling through tears, throwing a ball for Duke with his left hand.

"I can't give them money," Dad said, his voice cracking. "I don't have any. But I know dogs. And I have time."

"But why the secrecy? Why every six months?"

"Because that’s how long it takes to turn a scared shelter dog into a soldier’s lifeline," he said. "Basic obedience, task training, desensitization. I take the broken dogs nobody wants, and I turn them into the partners these kids need."

"And Barnaby?" I asked, my throat tight.

"Delivered him yesterday to a female marine in Ohio. She hadn't left her house in two years. She went to the park this morning."
🐾 on my ❤️ Please share if this moved you.

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@elonmuskTN 11

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@josh_jwhite @jrs_rankings You mean more money like the Red Sox and Yankees??? How are they doing in the playoffs??

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@JimHill3 @billyliucci Sips beat nobody with a pulse last year. Lost twice to Georgia - about the only quality team on their schedule.

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@billyliucci It aeems as though he doesn’t know the difference between the Aggie War Hymn and whatever song they have. My guess is he was just nervous!!! Just seemed oblivious.

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@billyliucci True. However, both still need to prove they can really play at this level (Especially Reed and passing). Calzada still has eligibility???

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@HCDEtx @HoustonISD @katyisd @HumbleISD @roberthalf Yes - fun times. It’s great being a part of HCDE!!!

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

Great job(s) by our own Stephen Kendrick!!

[jeff drury @jeffdrurychoice]

Stephen Kendrick making the first of two presentations this afternoon (this one is JOC) At TxPPA Fall Conference in Allen, TX. Next one is covering “Maintenance vs. Construction”.

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@HCDEtx Great job, Arlita! Congratulations on a job well done!!! Thanks for your contribution to our success!!

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@Choice_Partners and @AmazonBusiness = a great team!!

[jeff drury @jeffdrurychoice]

Amazon Reshape in Dallas!! Smart buying - ⁦@Choice_Partners⁩ and ⁦@AmazonBusiness⁩

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@wakeupusa YES

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

This month is the National Child Nutrition Conference on April 23-24! We would love for you to visit us at booth #515. #nationalchildnutritionconference2024 #ncnc2024 #childnutrition

[jeff drury @jeffdrurychoice]

Our own HCDE’s ⁦@HCDEtx⁩ Assistant Superintendent, Jonathan Parker, giving the welcome address to the ⁦@tasbo⁩ Gulf Coast M & O meeting at our Admin Building Conference Center today!! Go get ‘Em Mr. Parker!! ⁦@Choice_Partners⁩

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

@jeffdrurychoice @HCDEtx @amazon Nice! Amazon rocks!!!

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

The @choice_partners @HCDEtx team ready to leap into action as superheroes working for our vendors and members at the Annual Food and Nutrition - themed Show today at the Humble Civic Center!! Looks like it’s gonna be a great time!!!

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

Janet Wachs presenting at our Vendor Orientation meeting today! Great job! ⁦@Choice_Partners⁩ ⁦@HCDEtx⁩

[Choice Partners @Choice_Partners]

Look at that great looking group @HCDEtx !!

[jeff drury @jeffdrurychoice]

The ⁦@Choice_Partners⁩ Team Building event at Top Golf today!! Lots of fun…maybe not so much golf!! 😂😂