I adopted Griffin in April of 2018, just before I retired. He was an owner surrender and my fourth Golden.
The fosters were Susan and Frank. They lived about an hour away in Riverview, I lived in Dunedin. Susan and Frank were wonderful, and after I adopted him, Griff and I would often drive over to Riverview to see them and their GRRMF dog Calvin. Sometimes they came to see us. To this day I still keep in contact with them. He was six and a half when I adopted him. He was sweet and funny. We walked every day and he had so many friends in my FL neighborhood, both human and dog.
In 2023, we moved up to Cary, NC. We in an apartment on the bottom floor, overlooking the dog park for the complex! He would pose for Christmas cards, and we both loved the cooler weather. He got to see snow for the first time and we had lots of fun hiking in it!
In 2025 it was clear that he was slowing down a bit due to osteoarthritis in his hips. Thankfully, he never got cancer like my other three. We became a fixture at the apartments because there are so many places to walk and so many people with dogs. 
A group of us would gather for Yappy Hour in the dog park daily when the weather was right. The people in the property office loved him and we would often go up for him to get treats. They had selected him January 1st 2024 to be the Apartments pet of the month.
After speaking with his vet in early January, I knew that his condition meant that his time was short. I have always believed better a day too soon than a day too late. I scheduled his last day for Friday January 16th, because I did not want him to suffer or have a traumatic transition.
On Thursday, the property manager called me and wanted all his friends, both human and dog to gather at the dog park for a celebration of Griff’s life. All his friends were there and it was beautiful. As usual he was so happy to see everyone, of course because treats were involved!
The most amazing thing was, that they wanted to rename the dog park after him. So, I now live above Griffin Park.
He had a wonderful life!
