Ginger's Gift: Hope and Healing Through Dog Companionship

When Michelle Linn-Gust and her husband, Joe, brought Chaco, a charmingly neurotic mutt, to live with them, they didn t realize what they were getting into. Michelle had grown up in a close-knit dog-loving family, but owning a dog in her own home was a new experience. Not long after she and Joe became dog parents, Joe suffered a traumatic brain injury when a drunk driver crashed into his truck. Before long, the Linn-Gusts had four dogs, the maximum number allowed by the City of Albuquerque, and they couldn t seem to stop acquiring dogs. Whether Michelle was out running a road race or Joe was doing relief work following Hurricane Katrina, they opened their arms to just one more. With no room for more dogs at their house, they set to finding a dog for Michelle's mother in Chicago. What they didn t realize was that the yellow Labrador dog wouldn t ever meet Michelle's Dad, the one person against having a dog in the house. Suddenly, Ginger's importance in Michelle's mom's life would be more than anyone could explain. In Ginger's Gift, Michelle tells the story of their lives as dog owners and of the ways that dogs have helped her and Joe through the difficult passages that all humans must face.