About Danee Wilson
Danee Wilson grew up on the prairies in Regina, Saskatchewan. She completed a BA Hons in Spanish at the University of Calgary before moving to Spain to teach English. Inspired by the unidentified remains entombed in El Valle de los Caídos (The Valley of the Fallen), and hoping to work in the recovery and identification of victims of the Spanish Civil War, Danee returned to Canada to study archaeology at the University of Saskatchewan, where she received a BA Hons and an MA.
During her studies, she travelled to Spain each summer to volunteer in the search for victims of Franco’s regime. In 2016, Danee began work as Assistant Director of a small archaeology company in the Basque Country, and spent three field seasons excavating the medieval cemetery at San Miguel de Aralar in Navarre. After more than three years abroad, Danee once again returned home to Canada, completing a post-graduate diploma in public relations and communications management from McGill University. She currently resides in Toronto.
About Destiny
Sky Destiny (yes, that’s the name on her birth registration) was born in Puebla, Mexico and spent the first six years of her life there. By the time she came to live with my family, her name had been shortened to Desi, and we’ve kept calling her Desi, though I have grown to appreciate the special meaning behind her original name. She is a beautiful wire fox terrier that has found her forever home in Canada.
I don’t know much about her early years. She was a show dog and had at least one litter of puppies. It seems the family that owned her decided to change breeds and the wire fox terriers were relegated to pens in the yard. A member of the family, living in Canada, brought her to British Columbia to find her a new home. She spent time in two other families before my parents were asked to foster her. She was eight years old. By the time they drove her from BC to Saskatchewan it was officially a foster fail.
Destiny’s situation was unfortunate when she arrived. It was more than just a really bad haircut. She had a malignant tumour, she had never been spayed, her teeth had not been cared for (many needed to be removed), she had cataracts, and due to spending time in a small fenced enclosure she had developed circling behaviour. It seems she was also debarked, as her voice is quiet and high pitched, and she cannot growl at all.
When I arrived home from Spain, I wasn’t her favourite. She bit me regularly, nothing serious, no blood, just a warning. If I had her sitting on my lap she might nip my face. I couldn’t pick her up without risking being bitten. It was a rough beginning, but after several months of getting to know one another, she began to trust me.
At 12 years old, she is still fearful of loud noises, and sometimes afraid of spoons, but she knows she has a home and a special place in all our hearts.
Of course, I had to leave her (she doesn’t belong to me) when I moved to Toronto, but we carry our loved ones with us in spirit wherever we go, and, after all, she’s my little Destiny!
