People-Pet Bond
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 81)
the March 2007 service in Quitman,
Mississippi, and Rachel Lee had
another question for them: “I would
like to know how we can adopt Lex.”
Rachel didn’t want Lex to return to
service—and into harm’s way.
Throughout 2007 Rachel pressed
the Marines for an answer. Red tape
and regulations thwarted her—as did
grief. “I was in a fog,” she says of that
period. “I don’t remember a whole lot.
But my dad, my husband, my broth-
ers, they were all pursuing it.”
In December 2007 the Lees’ phone
rang. Rachel answered the call: Lex
had been granted an early discharge.
The Lees could come to Georgia and
pick him up. “It took so many people
trying to help,” says Dustin’s father,
Jerome. “The amount of support we
had was heartwarming.”
The Lees drove seven hours to the
Marine Corps base at Albany, Geor-
gia; in a ceremony there on December
21, 2007, Lex was discharged from
duty and presented to Rachel and
Jerome. State police from Georgia,
Alabama, and Mississippi provided a
rotating escort the entire way home,
as did motorcycle groups such as the
Christian Motorcyclists Association
and the Patriot Guard Riders.
When Lex arrived in Quitman, he
made himself right at home. “It was
amazing how Lex became part of our
family on day one,” Jerome says. “Lex
had that special bond with Dusty, and
part of Dustin is in Lex. It’s like he
knows where he is and who we are. He
wants to help us cope with our grief.”
Today, Rachel says, “Lex walks
with me everywhere. That’s the bond
I also feel with Dustin. I look at Lex
and I learn so much about working
dogs, and their importance. It encourages me to go on. That’s what
Dustin would have wanted. To take
my hand and put it on Lex, it’s a healing experience.” ;
Geoff Brown is the author of the guidebook Moon Baltimore.
Where to Buy Good Value Guide
Page 65 Red Berry Garland: $17.95, crateandbarrel
.com; Lit Crystal Garland: $29, potterybarn.com;
Silver Glitter Wreath: $34.99, wreathsgalore.com;
Mythic Paint exterior satin Sunburst Nose 114-6
(on door): $19.49/quart, mythicpaint.com; Riedel
Grape Champagne Flutes: $49/pair, williams-
sonoma.com; American Heritage Hall Table:
$149.99, bedbathandbeyond.com.
Page 66 Crate and Barrel ( crateandbarrel.com): Trix
glass globe candleholder, $4.95; Etta small glass
candleholder, $1.95; tea lights, $5.95/50; Basque
dining table, $599. Williams-Sonoma (williams-
sonoma.com): Tall pewter candlestick, $59; short
pewter pillar candlestick, $49. Pottery Barn (pot
terybarn.com): Pillar candles, various sizes, $9–$29
each; small mercury pillar candleholder, $19. Bed
Bath and Beyond ( bedbathandbeyond.com):
Yankee Candle MacIntosh regular tumbler candle,
$14.99; hand-dipped 10" terracotta candle, $2.69;
Colonial Candle Classic white taper, $11.99/6.
Page 68 Jewel Bud Vases: $39.95/5, redenvelope
.com; Glass Fruit Bowl: $68, williams-sonoma
.com; live box wood garland: $69, potterybarn.com;
Colored Tissue (in bowl): $3.50/8 sheets,
katespaperie.com.
Page 74 OXO Good Grips Pour & Store Watering
Cans: Bed Bath and Beyond or OXO, 800-545-4411,
oxo.com; Folding Alder Wood Cookbook Stand:
800-843-2665, barnesandnoble.com; Kids in the
Holiday Kitchen (on cookbook stand): $16.95, 800-
759-0190, chroniclebooks.com; Lily Pad Jewelry
Stand: 877-733-3683, redenvelope.com/lifestyle;
Sony DSC-S950 Cyber-shot digital camera: 877-
865-7669, sonystyle.com, Sony Style retail stores;
Garden Series Rose Bowl Set: 800-331-1089,
zak.com; Acer Aspire One AO751h netbook: 408-
533-7700, us.acer.com, Target, BestBuy, Radio
Shack, and other retailers; Innate Vite Plus V2
bottles: 877-406-6283, innate-gear.com.
Page 75 Cloisonné stoppers: 800-922-5507,
potterybarn.com; Rule TwentyOne golf towel: Golf
USA, 866-584-7762, or rulegolf.com; DXG-125V
All-Weather Camcorder: 626-581-3742, dxgusa
.com; Canon SELPHY CP780 printer: 800-385-
2155, estore.usa.canon.com, most major retailers;
Pier 1 evening bags: 800-245-4595, pier1.com;
UncommonGoods gardener’s seat: 888-365-0056,
uncommongoods.com; Norman Rockwell: Behind
the Camera: as of 11/1, hachettebookgroup.com.
Photo Credits Big 5-Oh Page 88: Mackenzie Phillips: Lester
Cohen/WireImage/Getty Images; Tina Turner: Dave Hogan/Getty Images;
Rahm Emanuel: Nancy Ostertag/Getty Images; Johnny Whitaker: Jerome
Ware/ZUMA Press; Sissy Spacek: Steve Granitz/WireImage; Lee Trevino:
Caryn Levy/PGA Tour/Getty Images; Allison Janney: Peter Kramer/AP Images; Bonnie Raitt: Steve Jennings/WireImage.
Solution to Puzzle on page 73
MOTEL NAME TIDAL SQFT
AROMA I M I N OCA L A CUER
CAR I BBEANGE TAWA Y H I RE
ELS ACTI CAL EVONNE
SONDHE I MCOL L EC T I ONS
EON I ONS NA TA L
ALIEN KAZOO RILE MATH
BUND TCAKES BEAD EER I E
E TON EL I SOCCERMA TCH
DENTAL COSTCO ROBLES
MILKCHOCOLATE
ALSACE TOPEKA ARETHA
CLAWHAMMERS BA T LE I S
YOKEL MOTE BROMEL I ADS
DEEP JOTS TEARY AXMEN
THANE BALK TRI
DECONS TRUC T I NGHARR Y
VALLEE ARI NORA EEL
ACME D I S I N TEGRA TORRA Y
RHEA OFUSE L I S T LOUSE
YARN EIDER KNEE DENTS
