A Life Worth Living – The Story of Sassy

Story of SassyYou are invited to read along as I create my next book titled, A Life Worth Living. It’s the story of a Yorkshire Terrier named “Sassy.”

READER BONUS: This book is initially being distributed in serial edition format directly from this website — in other words, you’ll be able to read the chapters as they are being written and you can find a link to all chapters at the bottom of this page. I chose to distribute here first because Sassy’s book fits with the express goal of this website — to share practical wisdom that you can easily understand and apply to your own life so that you can make the world a better place for yourself and others. I hope you will enjoy reading it and that it will indeed offer you some ideas to improve your life.


The Story of Sassy

On the surface, this is just a simple book about a dog — to be specific, a Yorkshire Terrier named ‘Sassy.’ Like many other books of the same genre, you as the reader will have plenty of opportunities to laugh and cry as you witness Sassy muddle through the ups and downs of her life. And even if that was all there was to the story, I like to think it would still make for an enjoyable read. But, as I learned from being her daddy, there was more to Sassy than just being the cliche heroine of another feel-good doggie tale. Ultimately what I hope to share with you in this book are the life lessons that Sassy taught my family — she changed our lives in a profound way and, if you open your heart to her message, perhaps Sassy could help change your life too.

Before we move on, I want to let you know, this story doesn’t have a happy ending – at least not in the traditional Hollywood sense.

Sassy dies — too soon.

Her passing ripped my heart apart in such a way that I still haven’t recovered from the ordeal despite the passage of time, and I doubt I ever will.

I miss her.

I still think about her every day.

Yet any sadness I might have about her loss is more than made up for by the lasting legacy she left us.

I can honestly tell you that my life would be different in so many negative ways had Sassy not been a part of our family. And so although we had to endure our share of hardships during our time with her, it was because of Sassy’s indomitable spirit that we were able to make it through our own tough times.

Sassy didn’t have the easiest life – she nearly died at birth, required knee surgery, broke her hip and later had to have it removed, suffered from severe allergic reactions to everyday exposures like grass and common foods, went blind due to macular degeneration of her retinas, developed diabetes and required multiple insulin injections per day, and ultimately succumbed to pulmonary vascular resistance at a young age.

Meanwhile, my family experienced our share of challenges too – my wife and I desperately wanted to have children but battled against fertility issues, failed real estate investments left us facing multiple foreclosures at the same time and threatened to destroy our finances, job changes and loss of work added more financial stress, we watched every one of our friends go through divorce or separation in their relationships — all of this contributed to our own marital strife — yet somehow we survived.

I realize that our challenges are not unique and that many families in this country face the same issues or much worse.  Yet all too often the challenges of life get the best of us and we decide to end our struggles by ending our relationships. I often wondered how my family survived these challenges when so many others do not? The conclusion I ultimately come to was this – Sassy kept us together. It might sound crazy to say that, but as you read this story you will see why it’s true. It was Sassy’s heart that provided the glue that helped my family survive. More importantly, I believe the lessons Sassy taught us can perhaps help YOU to overcome your own challenges in life too.

The ability to help others change their life for the better – it’s a gift from God. It’s a gift that Sassy had. And even though she had to endure a difficult life – one that ended all too soon – even still it was a life worth living…


The Story of Sassy – Table of Contents

1 – Find Your Voice

2 – There is Goodness in the World

3 – The Power of Persistence 

4 – The Lost Get Found

5 – Love Can’t Be Stopped

6 – Sliding Doors

7 – Too Much of a Good Thing

8 – Nothing Lasts Forever

9 – The Wisdom of Your Family

10 – Always Have a Plan

11 – Angels and Demons

12 – Ask, and Ye Shall Receive

13 – A Time for Everything

14 – For Every Action, a Reaction

15 – Tragedy

16 – Making Lemonade

Dedication:
To angel dogs like Sassy everywhere who change our lives for the better in so many ways, but sadly are gone all too soon…