A perfect pair

Every parent believes they have the best child and I have never been the exception to that rule. My son's name is Everett. Our dog's one year "Gotcha Day" was yesterday, April 11th. I have never been more grateful for an animal in my life. I knew from the very first day when they chose each other that they would have an extraordinary relationship.

Last year in April, me and my son Everett who at the time had one diagnosis of Autism headed out to the West Kennel in Maricopa, County. We met with two dogs and not one of them connected to my son. He began to get overstimulated with everything going on in the kennel and he ran. He ran through the kennel. Two workers and myself looked all over the outside and the inside of the kennel until we finally found him. Everett was hiding under his blanket leaning against a glass space. Inside the glass space was Bon Bon. Bon Bon was sitting against the glass where Everett was laying pawing up at him. We took her outside to the meeting area with Everett and the bond was incredibly obvious. We took her home that day.

Bon Bon was previously found on the street abandoned by her owners in the beginning of the pandemic. When we brought her home, her anxiety was high and she needed to be around all the time. Everett and Bon Bon did everything together from the day that we got her. She became his official service dog. The years and months stuck inside only built their bond. Everett was her strength and she is his calm. She is his caretaker in the moments where mom's words do not always reach.

This past January, in 2021, was one of the scariest nights I have ever experienced. It was the middle of the night. Everett was asleep next to me in my bed and Bon Bon was at the foot of our bed as always. Sometime in the middle of the night, Everett started sleepwalking. Most times, he will circle the room and get back into bed. Mostly, this is due to his anxiety. This night he did not.

In the middle of the night, Bon Bon who had always been a warm and welcoming dog started jumping on my head and began softly biting my shoulder till I quickly woke up and realized that my son wasn't in the room with me any longer. Bon Bon ran out of the room and I followed her to see my son still sleepwalking into the kitchen.

He was holding a knife.

I ran up and took the knife out of his hand and woke him up as fast as I could. The next words that came out of my son's mouth will forever replay in my mind as a mother.

"I need to kill the voices."

Since that day in January of 2021, my son has had two impatient stays in the children's psychiatric ward at Phoenix Children's Hospital. When we are home, Bon Bon does not leave her human's side. She is his respite, his best friend and the dog that saved his life. I owe her more than I could ever hope to give her.

She is now waiting to begin training to become his full time service animal. She will be a part of our family for as long as she can. We went to the kennel to find a dog to rescue and in each and every possible way, she rescued our family. I look at my son and Bon Bon now, inseparable best friends. A dog who found her home, a boy who found his safe place and myself, a mom who feels secure that her son is safe and loved.