Limitless
When Stacy Goodrich was just 38 years old, the doctor told her to make a bucket list.
The vibrant colors of the coral reef below the Pacific’s surface. The breathtaking views waiting at the tops of mountains she’d yet to hike. She always thought there was more time to see the world and take in its beauty until the diagnosis put a deadline on her explorations.
She moved through the thick shock of the words: retinitis pigmentosa. The explanation for why she’d been tripping over objects, running into corners, and filling with uncertainty behind the wheel. Her vision would continue to narrow, and she was left to make a list.
Stacy shook off the shock and earned her scuba diving instructor’s license, teaching diving in Australia, taking in the colorful sea life beneath the waves. She and her husband traveled, hiked, sailed, and soaked in memories.
She found an outlet in glass art and worked in a studio in her backyard, molding the hot glass into beautiful shapes inspired by the natural art she’d seen on the ocean floor. Ornaments, statues, dishes.
Samples of Stacy’s glass art
“It’s so comforting to know he’s got my back.”
And even though each adventure added another mental checkmark to what she was able to see and do before her vision worsened, she found herself passing up invitations to lunch with coworkers and friends or going on evening outings. The weight of feeling like she’d need to be helped grew heavier as the years passed.
Fear crept in, despite holding a white cane in one hand and her husband’s arm in the other. But she still had places to see and adventures to take. She’d followed her doctor’s advice to dive all in and see life, but she’d hesitated to listen to his other recommendation . . . to get a guide dog for greater independence.
Was she blind enough? Did she really need a dog to help her navigate? Doubts circled her mind for nearly 10 years, until she decided it was finally time to check that one thing off her list, too. The one thing that might bring everything else within reach.
It didn’t take Stacy long to realize that Klondike is more than a way to help her continue exploring life. He is adventure. His inquisitive nature and drive to take in every experience to the fullest make him Stacy’s perfect match.
And just like that, the deadline that was once placed on life’s to-dos vanished. No longer a timeline for joy, but the freedom and independence to go when she wants and where she wants.
“I didn’t realize just how life-changing it would be to have a dog,” Stacy says. “Klondike’s opened my world back up again.”
Klondike trots full force, tail wagging high, with his favorite person at his side. They now hike down to the bay together, his paws dipping in the salty shoreline, Stacy smiling down at him with pawprints and footprints stretching behind them in the sand. The sun’s warmth presses against her face as a reminder that she no longer needs to look down at her steps because Klondike’s got her covered.
Whether by her side, hiking through the trees or cuddled up with his chin on her shoulder, Klondike gives Stacy the freedom to no longer live by a list, but in a world that’s limitless.
