Five days after we had to evacuate our home during the flood four years ago, we returned to find out what all we lost. The first thing we found was the body of our dog Ginger who drown while waiting to be loaded into the boat. I had no idea of how I was going to take care of her, I knew we needed to bury her as soon as possible. During the days before returning home, I had called the local humane society asking if there was any way they could come take care of Ginger. Everything local was in such a disarray that I could only leave messages. I gave them permission to cut the lock on the gate in order to retrieve her body, but I never heard back from them.

When we arrived at the house, we first opened the front door and a wave of emotion swept over all of us. It was difficult seeing the damage to where we called home. After searching through the house for anything that could be save, which was not much, we went out and sat in the front yard. We had no idea what we were going to do. We had received a call from our insurance who said the adjuster should be there some time that day.

As we sat in the front yard, not knowing what to do first, a Texas State Trooper Tahoe stopped, and they asked us if there was anything they could do for us. Sort of as a joke, I asked if they could bury our dog. The driver hit the shoulder of the Officer in the passenger seat and said, "Rookie, we got work to do." He turned back to me and asked if I had a shovel. I said I do but we need to break into our garage. The side door was blocked by a freezer that was leaning against the door and the front main doors were beat up by boat wakes and would not open. They parked the Tahoe in our driveway, and we were able to pull the main front door out enough where I could go inside. The inside of the garage was an obstacle course of things that were thrown around by the water current. I finally made it back to where the shovels were kept by climbing over our cars. When I got the shovels outside the Trooper said I should go back to the front yard, they have this.

The picture here is the two Texas State Troopers digging Ginger's grave in the backyard.

Later as the Troopers were cleaning up and getting ready to leave, I talked with them on the driveway. I expressed my appreciation at how they went above and beyond to take care of our Ginger. They both said they were dog people and were glad to help. I notice the Tahoe was full of supplies and asked them where they were from. They said they were from Lubbock and came down here to help people like me.

If there is an award for Texas State Troopers of going above and beyond the call of duty, these two deserve that. I wish I had written down their names to recommend them for such an award, but times were strange for us then.

God Bless these two and all the first responders that made our life easier in such a tough time!