Aaron Anwary

We adopted Ziggy not long after my dad died. My family was broken and so was he. Skinny, hips already gone, sitting in the small dog cages up front because he'd been there so long they were begging someone to notice him. He was broken like us. I think that's why he fit.

The shelter said Doberman/Rottweiler. The vet took one look at his double dewclaws and said Beauceron. I'd never heard of the breed. I read the temperament and it was just a description of him. Loyal, watchful, built to guard his people.

I got him for my mom, so a widow wouldn't be alone in her house. She was terrified of animals. She ended up loving him, and loving animals, because of him.

He got me through my twenties and taught me more about myself than anyone. Then Francesca came, gave him rules and toys and her whole heart, and he had one more family to belong to.

He was healthy to the day he went, and he went on a Friday night, the holiest night of my week. I don't believe that was an accident. I've never been closer to God than I was in the 11 years He loaned me this dog.

Ziggy. The best of us. 8.14.26

If everybody likes you, you're doing something wrong.

Do what you gotta do so you can do what you wanna do.

They'll call you cold for having boundaries. Arrogant for having standards. Selfish for having goals. Let them. Their opinion is not your responsibility. Your potential is.

The gym isn't about the body. It's about proving to yourself daily that you can do hard things. That discipline transfers to everything. Start there if you don't know where to start.