Parker, who has terminal cancer, lives with his mom Alex in an afforable housing complex run by the Calgary Housing Company, an organization run by the City of Calgary. Parker is undergoing significant treatment for his cancer, and doesn’t get to enjoy most of the things that little kids never think twice about. Since he’s always dreamed of having a dog, he and his mom were thrilled when two people stepped forward, and donated dogs to Parker so that he could play with them and enjoy their company. Rudy (a great dane) and Cooper (a labrador mix) have been living with Parker and his mom since June .. but unfortunately, the Calgary Housing Company forbids dogs in their complex, so they’ve told Alex she is going to have to move. After much back and forth with CHA suggesting they might be able to find somewhere else for them to live, Alex has faced the uncertainty of not knowing where they would live. With a huge hospital operation coming up (a bone marrow transplant), Alex was afraid they would be forced to move in the middle of Parker’s operations, creating a tremendous amount of anxiety and inconvenience. This story touched me on a variety of levels. Besides the obvious tragedy of a little boy being afflicted in such a sad way, it involved the issue of dogs who were part of a plan to help provide this little boy some joy and hope in his life — and, the whole issue of affordable housing, which Calgary continues to face and with my significant involvement in rental properties, affects my daily world as well. I decided that I would step up and help Alex and Parker out by providing one of my houses as their new place to call home. It’s only about 4 minutes to the new Children’s Hospital, where Parker undergoes treatment, and there’s a huge off-leash area only a few hundred feet away for the puppies. And as you can see in this newspaper article about it that appeared in the Calgary Sun today, the two dogs definitely need somewhere to run! (Rudy, the great dane, really IS as big as he appears in this photo! I’ve never realized how strong a 115 pound dog can be!) I introduced the idea of doing this to my team this past week and they were thrilled, and volunteered to go over and pitch in to make the house as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. This coming Saturday, our whole team is going to be cleaning, maintaining, building a new fence and dog run, replacing appliances, painting, etc., so that the house is ready for Alex and Parker to move. I feel like this is absolutely the LEAST I can do since Calgary has been so good to me, and I believe that giving back is not something you should do, but something you MUST do. Parker is an unbelievable kid, and his mom Alex is equally amazing. When I talked to her about the situation and everything they were facing, she told me that the biggest thing she’s learned through all of this is that you have to appreciate everyone in your life, at the moment and not tomorrow. She said you can’t assume if you’re too busy to meet someone for a coffee that you can just do it next week.. you never know – they might not be around tomorrow, so enjoy and appreciate the people in your life today. After I met with Alex, I went home and hugged my wife Raylene even tighter than normal, and truly enjoyed the walk with the dogs that day more than I think I ever have. It’s amazing, but even though Alex has been so appreciative and can’t believe someone would go out of their way to help them, the truth is, I’m the one that got the gift in all of this. It’s caused me to stop this weekend and recognize some of the important people in my life that I rarely take the time to appreciate, and I’ve committed to working harder at establishing and maintaining the relationships and friendships in my life that I value. Parker’s story has been not only a wonderful, fulfilling way for me to feel like I’m giving back, but it’s helped remind me what’s really important, and that you can never show too much appreciation to those in your life that you love.]]>