Yuki is a Bichon Frise who has lovingly touched my heart, and life, ever since I brought her home with me at 3 months old. When we first met at her breeder’s house, I asked Yuki “Would like to come home and live with me?” Yuki licked my hand with her tiny tongue (giving me kisses, I believed), and I said “Okay! I’m bringing you home with me!” Yuki then toddled directly back into her crate and went to sleep (I like to think this is because she confidently knew we had made an agreement to share our futures together). Yuki has been with me for 15 years now, and I have been fortunate to support her in becoming the animated and heartful self she is today. From her first experience of exploring the snowfall outside, to her learning words and hand signals so we could communicate, to my learning how to interpret her playful and expressive nature, Yuki has accompanied me through many of my life’s transitions. She helped me take care of both my parents – from going for long walks with my dad and when he needed, pulling him up the hill to return to the house, to actually preventing my mom from walking too far away from the house by hunching her shoulders and refusing to budge. My mom thought Yuki’s insistence she stay near the house meant she had a serious health issue. When mom explained to me what Yuki was doing during their walks together she said, “I think something is wrong my me” (meaning her health). Turns out, Yuki was the first to know about my mom’s brain cancer, formally diagnosed a month later. Yuki served as my mom’s service companion, letting us know when my mom was about to have seizures, as well as watching my mom and letting her know when she was overextending herself by doing too much. When this happened, Yuki would, decidedly sit in mom’s walking pathway to signal she needed to slow down. Yuki was with me through the passing of first my dad (age 90), and them my mom (at 87), the passing of a dear mentor (94), and throughout the growing-into-adulthood years of my two nephews, now in their thirties. She has touched many lives with her happy ways, especially mine. At 15 years old, Yuki is still happily running and dancing and prancing, although she does like her naps! Earlier this year, Yuki was diagnosed with a heart murmur, which is not surprising at age 15, (or approximately 76 in human years). And, as you might imagine, I was incredibly sad to be reminded of Yuki’s unavoidable aging process, when being informed of about her heart murmur (which apparently is quite loud) during her annual check-up. Fortunately though, Yuki doesn’t have any symptoms effecting her daily activity, and she is now on remedies to help with her heart function. However, after Yuki’s vet visit, I told my beloved Jim about Yuki’s heart murmur. In his special caring and uplifting way, he suggested I write a book about “Yuki the Magical Dog”. As Jim proceeded to share his perception of Yuki and her magical ways, I found myself visualizing Yuki’s expressions, her characteristics and her magical happiness in a new light. This is how Yuki the Magical Dog series was born, and this is how the theme of ‘happiness magic’ came into being. (If you’ve met any bichons, you will know what I’m talking about when I say happy, happy happy!) The stories about Yuki, her adventures, her characteristics, and her expressive ways are genuinely and authentically Yuki (with some embellishment on the ‘magical’ parts). The drawings of Yuki in the stories are actually from photos of her, expertly captured and illustrated by Claire. Since my work involves what I refer to as helping people “navigate reality”, I wanted to be able to include Yuki’s stories as a part of the navigating reality concept. The question was, how can a magical dog become a part of navigating reality? Rachel, a very creative branding person said “Meryl, I know just how to include Yuki the Magical Dog series! There can be a “Navigating Reality for Kids!” As a result, this how we are shaping Yuki the Magical Dog’s experiences, as she encounters her life adventures, and navigating through situations in ways kids might appreciate (we hope). Hopefully, you will find Yuki the Magical Dog enjoyable and informative, as she seeks to find positive and constructive ways to engage her life’s adventures.