"A dog is a bond between strangers." – John Steinbeck. Our story started with our dogs. They are the reason we met and fell in love. Mike and I used to live in the same run-down apartment complex. I had initially noticed Michael when I moved in but was not single at the time. So Summer turned to Winter, and Mina, my Australian Shepard, decided that she and I needed new friends. It soon became a daily occurrence for her to watch and wait by the deck door. From my apartment Mina had a great view of the entire courtyard. She could see anyone coming and going from our building. When Mina would see Mike and Brody, his Olde English Bulldog, she would run at the sliding glass door and throw herself at it. The interesting thing was she would only do this if she saw them. Everyone else got a very stern “barking” about walking outside our home. Mina continued this behavior for about a week before I took her out at the same time. She ran down the hall and stairs and led me straight to Mike and Brody. We started talking and decided to take the dogs for a walk several hours later. The rest became history! It seemed our dogs knew we would be better together and made it happen.