About Us

Quade:

Terrilynn and I first met in junior high. We went on one date but I was too fearful to accept her later invitation to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. We lost touch after high school and did not reconnect until we met up at our 45^th high school reunion. We began talking and started to see each other.

Terrilynn was living in her childhood home at the time. There was a tree in the yard that was special to her. She had planted it when she was just a girl and often talked to it. One day we had a date planned and she came home to meet me. She saw me sitting at the base of that tree to get a sense of its energy and connect with it. Terrilynn says it was like the universe hit her in the head with a ‘gong’ and that she should pay attention to this man’s depth of caring.

We continued to see each other on a regular basis. Things started to get quite serious between us when she moved in to take care of me after I slipped on ice outside her house and broke my right fibula. She helped me heal.

Terrilynn had two twelve-year-old Schnauzers who were brothers but we had to put one of them, Hardley, down due to his failing health. The other one, Tank, found himself without any remaining siblings. His sense of loss was severe and he became quite depressed. Terrilynn suggested we go to the Dumb Friends’ League to see if there was a dog there available for adoption that would be a fit for us.

Terrilynn:

There was a little white dog laying atop its cot, but when we looked in the viewing window, it slid under its bed to hide.  We asked for the little dog to be brought to us in a visitation room and we immediately connected. The next day we brought the Schnauzer to meet him and that also went well so we left as a family of four!

We named the little dog Luke. He is a handful and may have been mis-treated before he got to the shelter because he gets fearful and barks a lot in general and particularly when he meets someone new. However, we are quite pleased to have him in our life. He brings a lot of kisses and affection, especially to me. And, the little Havanese dog has re-energized the elderly Schnauzer!

In August 2021 we went on vacation and began exploring the southwest part of Colorado, where Quade drove his Jeep to the top of Imogene Pass. The world looks very different from 13,777 feet in elevation! We saw a moose on Red Mountain Pass and I swooned at seeing Quade in his natural element—the mountains are the seat of his soul.

I was married before and have a son, Jamil, who is now 43 and married to a wonderful woman, Arianne. They live in Texas and have two children, a son, Abraham, age eight, and a daughter, Judah, age three.

Next to giving birth to Jamil, having Quade come into my life after so many years is a true gift.