Page 915 - Total War on PTSD

“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, and filling an emptiness we didn't ever know we had.” - Thom Jones
Courtenay: When talking to Lori about Campbell and Jackson, I loved her story about the visit to the zoo with Campbell. Campbell enjoyed his visit with some of the animals at the zoo but seemed to dislike others. He apparently barked at some of the animals at the zoo that he didn't care for or that he couldn't figure out, for whatever reason. For some reason I recalled the story my mother told me countless times about me when I was between two and three years old and our family visited the zoo.
Apparently, there was an Elephant that we were all standing right next to, and my mother wasn't holding my hand, and I took off and walked right underneath the stomach of that huge elephant, between its front and back legs. I don't think, at that age, that I was even aware of what I was doing but I sure shocked the hell out of my parents.
I like to think that I was being a brave and independent little girl...but then I wonder what would have happened if that Elephant had lifted one of its feet. I remember that, even at a young age, the sounds and the lights scared me.
My grandmother did not like the fireworks either but it was because she remembered the war and experienced bombings...including having shrapnel lodged in her stomach from one attack. Because of this she also didn’t like thunderstorms...and often shepherded us kids down into the basement at the first hint of a bad storm. I just remember being confused about the scared and
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