Memory is deceptive. We make memories, they dissolve with time; we tailor the residue to our narrative, the one we all must tell ourselves in order to justify our existence. An ex-lover across a restaurant turns out to be a stranger. The recipe you grew up cooking is missing ingredients. You walk into Wayne’s basement, but this isn’t Wayne’s basement.
And that’s what makes it all the more surprising when the past actually does merge with the present, as happened with Kate Griffin and her long-lost cockapoo Cami. Ten years ago, Griffin’s parents divorced and the family dog, Cami, was given to a new home to avoid the push-and-pull of joint custody. Griffin, who was 14 years old at the time, never thought she’d see her dog again. That changed during a casual stroll in her neighborhood of Park Ridge, Illinois.
After Griffin’s story was posted on the Facebook group Dogspotting yesterday, she spoke with New York about her heartwarming experience.
“I was walking back from picking up my Starbucks and I saw these two dogs across the street. One was a bigger black shaggy dog looked like a German shepherd mix and then there was the smaller caramel-colored one,” Griffin said. “I instantly started looking at her.” Griffin immediately started wondering if the little dog was Cami, though she thought it wasn’t likely since Cami would be nearly 15 years old now. “I debated back in forth in my head if I should cross the street,” she said. “I just decided, hell, I’m doing it.”