The Bodhi Project

Bodhi is the love of my life. I found him as a puppy in Kalamazoo, and he lived until the ripe old age of 15. He was my best friend, family and soul mate. He went missing in July 2013, in Grand Haven Michigan where he passed away. The time has come to kick some love back to everyone that helped me during that challenging situation. I have decided to run a monthly fundraiser, spotlighting different animal help organizations. The first organization will be Heaven Can Wait Animal Haven. I am offering two separate fundraisers, a donation based meditation and yoga class next month. If you are unable to attend these events or any future events, I will be opening a paypal account where you can make your donations. 100% of the donations will go to the spotlighted organization. 

Since Bodhisattvas passing on July 19th, It has been a challenging road. When he first went missing, I was unbelievably scared, crazy, anxious and sad beyond belief. I wasn't sure how I would find him or what exactly to do. This is when the miracle began. I posted a status on Facebook about his disappearance and the rest is history. So many people poured their hearts out to me and Bodhi. Friends, family, strangers, organizations, local news. After all options were exhausted, you all raised $2000 to bring in the countries best dog tracker to come find Bodhi.  Words cannot express how grateful I am for every single person that helped me find my dog. One organization in particular, Heaven Can Wait Animal Haven, in Ferrysburg Michigan, called me several times per day offering help. They hung posters, called shelters, and posted Bodhi's information all over their Facebook wall. They even came to meet me when Karin Tarqwyn and her rescue dogs arrived in Grand Haven to search for Bodhi. It was pure love and concern that this group offered me, asking for nothing in return.

I am so excited to announce the kick off of The Bodhi Project, starting at the end of the month! Meditation is March 30th at a friends private home, with a limit of 20 people. The donation yoga class will be in April, and I will keep everyone posted as I finalize the details. The start of something beautiful is happening. Thank you all for being a part of it. 

Animals need our help globally in so many ways! Lets start in our backyard with these organizations. Most animal help, rescues, shelters, etc, rely on charitable contributions and donations. Volunteers work day and night for the well fare of our animal friends. Lets all help by donating as much as we can in the coming months, to help these animals in need. 

Thank you Bodhi for teaching me how to Love. 

Lets spread the Love

Michael McCarthy

Second Blog about Bodhi:   7/25/13

     I will be jumping around a bit in my full story of the days i spend searching for Bodhisattva. He is still missing and midday yesterday i decided to set up a fund raiser and bring a professional dog tracker for Nebraska, Karin TarQwyn. She is driving to the West shore of Michigan right now and will be tracking her with the use of her dogs.

     Today, i want to share how difficult it was to leave Lake Michigan and come home to Detroit. I returned Tuesday morning around 2 am and have been getting about 3 to 4 hours of sleep per day. I left because i felt like i exhausted every physical option in Grand Haven searching for Bodhi. Today is Thursday morning and i still cannot go home. It is to difficult to sleep in the same bed Bodhi and i shared.  Ive been staying at coffee shops, sleeping at my office, stayed at a close friends last night and ive been trying to work to cover the cost of this operation. Over the last 12 months, i was working my ass off to get on The Center for Yoga's schedule as a Yoga teacher and this week marked my start of scheduled classes. Tuesday morning after 3 hours of sleep, i taught my first class. Afterwards, i spent the rest of the day at Starbucks returning calls, following leads, posting on facebook and analyzing a video of a floating animal that was seen off shore 3 miles outside of Grand Haven that some local fisherman caught on video. The video is very inconclusive. That day was very difficult to be back and the thoughts of that animal being my dog plagued me. Tuesday evening, i worked for 3 hours and fell asleep around 3 to wake up at 7. Wednesday, woke up with horrible anxiety. Taught a regular scheduled class at 9:45 and went directly back to Starbucks. This time, i had some close friends reach out and ask me if i talked to Karin TarQwyn the famous dog tracker. At first i was resistant because i knew the cost was considerably expensive. Since my return from Thailand in February, i traveled twice for work and realized i had to stop working on the road to be close to Bodhi because of his senior needs. My travel work is the main source of my income and without travel and taking care of Bodhi non stop with no help, i also had to cut back on my body work sessions here. My income was now at an all time low and i was eating up my savings. So when this first idea of  Karin was brought up to me, i thought it was not even an option. The other part of this is that when it was suggested i start a fund raiser, again i thought no way because it is out of my comfort zone to ask others to help me.

    My friend Sarah asked me on Wednesday asked me if i talked to Karin. I picked up the phone and talked to Karin for almost 45 minutes, making sure that we covered every possible basis. She watched the video and also found it inconclusive. We talked about so much in that 45 minutes and i told her  would call her back in a little while. Her time is very valuable and she wanted to be certain that i needed her. We both decided it would be a huge help to bring in her team. I sat down in front of my laptop, began chatting/texting with close friends about the idea. They all rally behind me and started sending me fund raiser info. 3 people also stated they would foot the cost of Karin TarQwyn up front until i raised the funds. Amazed! The generosity, integrity, loving kindness of the people around me has astounded me. I am grateful beyond and words for all the amazing people in my life.

     20 minutes later, i called Karin and told her lets find my dog. Sent her a contract, my friend sent her money and im meeting her in Grand Haven tomorrow. Whatever the outcome may be, im in hope of some answers about Bodhi's disappearing act. My car is still packed from last week and i will be heading back to the west shores of Lake Michigan this afternoon. We will be setting up shop tomorrow morning next to the address he was lost. I will be blogging and posting on facebook all about it.

     I am hopeful for a miraculous outcome and will accept any outcome of tomorrow. Sending love to Bodhi, my friends, my family, everyone who has donated, everyone who has rallied behind my efforts and all that have helped in anyway possible. Gratitude & Love ... See you soon Bodhi

     I have copied and pasted the link below to donate. As of 11:50 am today, we are at $1335 and need to raise $1165 more. Any amount of a donation is greatly appreciated. Thank you for all your help. It means the world to me and my fur kid :)

http://www.youcaring.com/pet-expenses/bring-bodhi-home/74814

     So i decided to start documenting the events of Friday 7/19/13 1:30 a.m. In Grand Haven Mi. Bodhi was last seen at a house that my family and i were staying at for the weekend. The home is located on 19599 North Shore Dr. It is situated right on Lake Michigan on top of a sand bluff with patches of tall grass covering the ground. The home has a path that leads down to the beach about 150 to the water and is also across the street from a wooded dune area. The house also has a vacant lot next door on the beach which is rare for this area.

     I arrived at the Home on Wednesday the 16th around 12:30 am. My family rented an entire house for a week for all 16 of us. They had already been there since the previous Sunday. Dogs were not allowed in the home, so i pitched a tent on the Porch that had a gate and overlooked the Lake Michigan. Bodhi was restless that night, so we slept in my car with AC on. It wasnt all that hot but as he has gotten older, he becomes restless and paces often, so i figured the car would be more comfortable. We slept 3 hours in the car and then moved back to the deck and slept a couple more hours peacefully. Next day, Thursday, started around 8 am. It was pretty hot that day and Bodhi wasnt all that interested in food only water. As the day progressed, he was tied up on a long leash under the deck with a nice breeze in the shade. I must of checked on him every 20 minutes. He was restless. He got tangled a couple times and started howling. I let him off the leash a couple times and started down towards Lake Michigan, in a faster fashion than you think a 15 year old dog can move. We went in the water a couple times to cool down. The first time Bodhi ever swam was in lake Michigan was as a puppy around 4 months. I got Bodhi when he was 3 months from someone that had a sign outside of there home in Kalamazoo when i lived there in 1997. Bodhi doesnt really swim as an older dog bc he hates it when water gets in his hound ears. He goes about 20 inches deep and pretty much stands there and licks the water. He walked on the beach by himself while i watched him and he wouldnt go that far before turning around and looking for me. This behavior was normal for him as he passed age 14. I remember on this day as Bodhi first touched his paws in the water, i felt like i brought him here to die. It was saddening but the voice was strong in my heart. I cried a little. It was a symbolic moment as i look back.

     Later on that night, he was on the locked in deck on the back of the home. Tried to feed him dinner but he didnt eat and seemed irritated bc he wasnt allowed in the house. I was playing cards with my nieces Mackenzie, Livi and nephew Jonny. Around 1:30, i decided to take him pee on the side of the house off the deck with no leash. I walked to my car to grab my sleeping bag which was maybe 25 feet away. i was gone 20 maybe 30 seconds. He was gone. The spot he pee'd in was on the path to the beach but also on the top of the property where he may of ran off into the vacant neighbor lot. If he went through the lot, he could of made his way down either direction on North Shore Dr. or across the street into a dune area that had a run leading into a low lying wooded area of the dunes. Also, he could of ran down to the Lake and been there in seconds. He isnt a runner per say, unless he has been on lock down for hours (which he was, at least 3), in which case he will run for a short while and then slowly let his hound dog nose lead him off to places. He is hard of hearing and has always been a selective listener. He ran away a few times as a puppy and i would yell his name to find him. Sometimes, he would be in the neighbors yard as i yelled for him and he wouldnt even flitch. The hound nose made the world around him silent.

     Once i realized he ran off, my first instinct was to run down to the lake at mock speed. The moon was 3 quarters full and bright. The North Westerly winds were strong and there were some huge waves on the lake shore. I didnt see him when i made it down to the waters edge or in either direction on the beach. I remember thinking, if he was close to the waters edge and a wave hit his feet, it would knock him off balance and he wouldnt have been able swim through those fierce waters. He has hip problems and in the last 6 months had become weak. He couldnt have gotten far. I ran back up the bluff yelling his name and i ran out to the dimly lit street. No sign of him. So i ran inside, grab my nieces and nephew and we started searching. I went back to the beach as they searched the bluffs. At which point i realized we needed flashlights so we ran back in the house, found a couple flashlights and continued searching in every direction. Streets, woods, bluffs, beach, lake shore for 3 hours. We found nothing. At 4:30, i told the little ones to go to bed as i continued on. I decided to go back down to the beach, sat in a chair at the lake shore at the end of the path coming from the home. I sat there and thought, damn ive looked everywhere, now what? So i shut my flashlight off, dimmed my phone and asked the universe to help me. At that exact moment, one of the brightest shooting stars i ever saw in my life shot straight over head from behind the house straight over Lake Michigan. It was so intense and powerful. I wasnt sure what it meant. It scared me and i felt like that start was symbolic of Bodhis life and his spirit was now free. It scared me. I picked my ass up off the chair, walked up the hill and waited on the porch til the sun began to light up the earth. Now i could search more and see more.

     This is just the beginning of the story. I will blog more about it in the coming days. I searched for 4 days non-stop. I scoured the surrounding area and walked almost 40 miles over those days. When i decided to post on FB about him missing, i knew shit just got real.

      Adding one thing that i also feel is symbolic. I had a dream last week that Bodhi drowned in a hot tub and i saved him. I told a couple close friends about this dream when it happened, Sue and Kristen. In my dream, my sister was there, he pooped near the hot tub and he drowned in it the tub and i pulled him out and revived him. The home that we stayed at in Grand Haven had a hot tub downstairs under the deck where Bodhi was tied up and he pooped near the hot tub.

     More to come about how everyone helped me to find him. My amazing support system. My families support. If you have read this far, it means you have also been touched by the life of my dog. Take a moment of silence please, place your hands over your heart and send some love to him and any animal you've ever lost or has had an impact on your life. I named my dog the Bodhisattva of Compassion. If i only knew he would touch so many lives. I am so grateful for all of you. Sending you and your animals love.

~Mc & Bodhi