Suki is about ten years old. I say “about,” because I don’t know her birthday, as she is a lab-mix rescue from the pound. When I brought her into the veterinarian for the first time, I asked what mix she was. They didn’t know. The wobbly little puppy snapped and barked at the staff; bolder than her size let on. “How big is she going to get?” I also asked. “I don’t know, pretty big.” The all black lab-mix, ageless, soon to be pretty big puppy also was missing one thing, her tail. “Why do you think someone removed her tail?” “I’m not entirely certain.” It appeared that I had a mystery puppy on my hands.
At the time I adopted Suki, I was still in college, just paying my rent with a smattering of jobs that I never liked. An opportunity presented itself, Matt Bross, who had recently graduated UNL was dissolving his video business and looking for his next challenge. My background was in graphic design, so we decided to join forces and start a multimedia design company, Delinea Design. Naivety and optimism are, luckily, for the young; if we had known how much work was ahead of us, we may have both taken different directions in our lives. But, thanks to youthful bravado we stuck with what turned out to not just be a hobby, but a fulfilling, lifetime career. The whole time Suki looked on from her sun drenched doggy bag, greeting strangers, attempting to terrify anyone who delivered anything to the studio.
It’s been ten years of business and Suki has been there for the long haul. I wonder what she thinks of us, buzzing around the studio, new people to meet, everyday different. I think it’s kept her young. She still loves to play and will, without fail, present one of her toys to a new guest. Ten years removed from that little, nipping puppy, is a graying, almost dignified, mystery lab-mix, perched like an idol, an extension of Delinea itself. It just wouldn’t be the same without her. And, oh, she’s about 60-odd pounds.