A story of missing photographs: Lost dog pix leave big gap in Stark County woman's life
LAWRENCE TWP. ‒ Amanda French may have rescued Bella, but that little dog saved her.
"She really was my best friend ... my kid," French said.
A brown and white basenji mix, adopted from an abusive home. Twenty-one pounds of pureness. The object of French's affection and giver of unconditional love, Bella slept beneath a blanket in French's bed. They belonged to each other for eight years.
"I definitely had a lot of my own identity tied up in her," French said.
Rescued:Canton firefighters save dog trapped on riverbank in freezing weather, pull out dog puns
'Drowning in good dogs':'Stark County shelters overwhelmed with animals
If you've never owned a dog, you may not understand. If you've owned a dog, which you treated like, well, a pet, you probably won't get it. But if you're one of those whose dogs are a full-fledged family member, you'll empathize.
Bella died at age 10 in the fall of 2021.
It was rather sudden but peaceful. An undetected tumor. French got to hold her in a room at CoTwins Veterinary Care. Relatives managed to say goodbye on a video call.
French eventually got over it.
But she's grieving again. Her cellphone, full of photos and videos of Bella from the past three years, including some of the last ones before her death, is lost.
Two months ago and counting.
Missing phone; a reward; and a digital sin
French has made a last valiant effort to get the photos back. It's the online equivalent of an all-points bulletin — she recently posted lost and found ads on Craiglist and on 17 separate Facebook groups and pages in the area.
Nothing so far.
"My beloved dog ... ," French wrote.
She wrote how the phone was lost between Nov. 13 and Nov. 15, 2022. At Canal Fulton Giant Eagle or the CVS at Wales Avenue and Fulton Drive NW. Or, perhaps Jimmy John's on East Maple Street in North Canton, or the Stark Educational Service Center.
"I owe that to Bella, to try to get them back," French said.
Dr. Jason Linder explained why we love our pets so much in a blog post for Psychology Today last year.
They provide "non-complex, simple love, availability, and presence we live for and ... what we want most from human relationships: connection, attunement, and presence."
And they have no ulterior motives.
"Pets understand us non-verbally," he wrote. "They're in sync with us emotionally and aren't distracted by the words and other complexities or nuances in human relationships."
American author Mark Twain may have summed it up best:
“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you," Twain once remarked. "This is the principal difference between a dog and man.”
French was in the process of switching phones. She'd removed almost everything she wanted from the old Samsung Galaxy S10e; turned off location tracking; and was going to sell it as soon as she downloaded her Bella photos.
Ultimately, French realizes she committed a digital-era sin of not saving and uploading along the way. But like many of us, she got busy. She's a 34-year-old professional with a master's degree. She waited to do it until tomorrow.
She doesn't care about the phone. In fact, if someone has it, they can keep it. She'll even give them $50 more if they'll return the photos, no questions asked.
A dog's life ain't so bad
French grew up with dogs.
But Bella was hers.
Like a doting, conscientious mother, French kept all of Bella's veterinary records in a file cabinet folder, right alongside her own folder and her tax records.
Every month, she held Bella in her arms on a scale, so she could chart the dog's weight — 21.6 pounds on May 7, 2017; 21.2 pounds on June 7; and so on.
French dressed Bella in Halloween costumes; neatly hung a selection of dog coats and sweaters in a doll wardwrobe cabinet; and filled a drawer with colorful collars.
To this day, French sleeps with a stuffed toy dog that resembles Bella. Some of the dog's cremains are sewn into it. A bookcase shelf holds a clay mold of Bella's paw print, framed next to a photo of a smiling French holding her dog.
She has all that, along with more photos than she lost, not to mention all the memories.
Still, something is missing.
It's like discovering your childhood photo album ends with elementary school, with no account of junior high or high school. Missing pieces of a life lived and shared.
"I still have some hope," French said.
But if it turns out that phone and those photos are gone forever, she said she'll eventually get over that, too. And maybe one day, she'll be ready to get another best friend.
If anyone wants to return the photos, French can be reached by voice or text at 330-333-5746.
Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com On Twitter: @tbotosREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Amanda French lost phone, and three years of life with her dog, Bella
