I moved into Middleburg with my human Tom in 2012 and spent most of my time at his center, A Place To Be Music Therapy. At that time the center was at 130 South Madison Street. A Place To be was hardly 2 years old, but busting with people with disabilities who had Music Therapy. We have grown a lot since 2012, but one of my favorite memories of our old space was out neighbors, especially our neighbor next door, Sonny. He and his wife owned the Middleburg Pharmacy and he was always outside talking to Tom and all of the parents that brought their kids to us. I was sad to hear Sonny passed away in December of 2018.

Sonny was the kind of neighbor who cared about everyone. He was constantly asking what he could do for us. In fact, one day during a hot summer day he brought all the kids at the center ice cream. He drove a big white car that sort of looked like a boat. He was different than a lot of other people. He was the kind of person that always stopped his car in the middle of the road to ask how you were or to invite you to a holiday party. Tom and he had hundreds of conversations. As dogs we are constantly curious. Humans, especially recently have become less curious about people and how to make the world kinder. Sonny was always curious; he constantly asked questions and had something to say about making the world a little better.

One time after Sonny stopped and talked to Tom, Tom spoke out loud, (which is common for humans to do around dogs) and said Sonny is one of the nicest people in the whole world. I think Tom and I both felt that he was special because he was always sincere and authentic and never in a rush. Tom is in a rush often, but I know one thing Tom appreciated about Sonny was how he took time with people. I have met a lot of nice humans since I moved to Middleburg, but Sonny had to be one of the kindest, most gentle humans someone could meet on the street or as a neighbor. Since I am a dog I have a very clear idea of what happens to all of us after we leave the earth. Sonny is in a beautiful place filled with blue sky and green grass, driving his big white car and asking people how they are doing. I hope we all can remember to take our time to talk to our neighbors because you never know when they may not be here any longer.