[Geary]

True story: We lived @ 2,000 feet on Haleakala, on Maui. One day driving down the mountain to town, we saw a dog (that looked just like Lady) walking up the road. We didn't think much about it .. just figured it was a dog heading home. The next morning, that very same dog was laying at our front door. Quite a coincidence, as our home was hidden down a 400-ft driveway (flag lot in a subdivision of 2-acre lots). We of course adopted to dog, which looked vaguely familiar.

Two weeks later, our friend dropped by our house, and recognized his dog. Thankfully, he gave her the choice .. jump in the truck, or stay with us. She opted to stay. It turns out the dog had walked (over a 2-3 day period) from 25 miles away, up to a 2,000 foot elevation, in order to find our house. We figured that she had visited maybe once or twice in the back of that pick-up truck.

The reason our friend gave us for her leaving home? His wife beat her from time to time.

Fast forward about 5 years .. We learn that it wasn't the wife beating "Maile" that made her leave. It was our "friend". He not only beat the dog, but he beat his wife. Pond scum.

The day Maile got too old to walk any longer was one of the saddest days of my life. We buried her at the edge of the lower lawn, in one of her favorite shady spots.