Nico, three months old, legs thick like tree trunks, supporting a furry chunk of energy, all tongue, no sense. The last time I saw my Father alive and well was the first time he and Nico met. Ingrained in my memory, Nico on my parent’s kitchen table licking my Fathers hands and him laughing and smiling in complete joy. I couldn’t ask for a happier final snapshot of my Father’s life and I’m eternally grateful to Nico for giving me that. Her arrival into my life as my father departed was timing like no other, she gave me purpose to wake each morning in those difficult first months, and, our bond grew constantly, it still grows to this day.

There have been some memorable events, one being the day she escaped from the dog park in a panic after having an epileptic seizure. It ended happily thanks to her incredible powers of navigation. Crossing the busy road at Hermannplatz, she took herself to the U Bahn station, waited on the correct platform and got on the correct train for home. Realising I wasn’t on the train she got off and sat on the platform and waited. My number on her tag combined with some lovely strangers ensured we were happily reunited.

Nico is at times, more friend introduction service than dog, she has been the catalyst for meeting some incredible people that I’m now lucky enough to call friends here in Berlin. These meetings would not have happened without her and thanks to her, I am tethered to this wonderful city in ways I could never have imagined.

We will continue to explore together, peeling back the many layers of Berlin and are looking forward to all tomorrow’s parties.