“It was noon–when the sun was at its highest point and the dog was at his lowest moments.”

From Tom Sullivan and Betty White’s Together: A Story of Shared Vision.

When a young black lab is abandoned in a park, he is brought to an animal shelter, where Smitty, a seeing eye dog trainer recognizes amazing potential in the dog.  While he was an amazing guide in work mode, Nelson the young lab was an energetic handful during downtime, which had led the dog through two unsuccessful placements and into his final round of training with Smitty.  Brenden McCarthy was a med student and avid outdoorsman, but while climbing a local mountain in Denver one fateful June day, he fell and injured his head, which resulted in blindness.  After struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide, Brenden’s mother, Mora, signs her son up to go through the program and receive a dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind.  Brenden is apprehensive, but is willing to try to show his fiancé (Lindsey) how independent he could be.  When he arrives, Brenden meets Smitty and begins his training, but has trouble connecting fully with the dog he’s been given: Nelson.  While the human-dog team have lots of issues as Brenden struggles with his blindness and Nelson struggles to focus with a new master that doesn’t seem to love him, the pair eventually develop a relationship that is powerfully centered on love, leading Brenden to a life he never thought possible.

This story is full to the brim with heartwarming and painfully honest moments.  With the shared narration focused primarily on Brenden and Nelson, it is easy for the reader to watch the pair develop throughout the story, both as individuals and a team.  Sullivan and White do an amazing job creating a story that is memorable, funny, informative, and full of hope.  Together is the perfect read that will stay with the reader long after the book is finished.