Blind Love

spinal disc showed. There were scars all over her, as though she’d been involved in a host of dog fights.

A scar on her face. A scar on her chest. One behind her ear. On her side. Another on her right forelimb.

something wrong with her. Animals don’t walk open highways. But the black-and-tan dog was moving by feel. Because she is blind.

All she knew was that she liked open highway because the surface was smooth, and there were no obstructions. And when you’re blind, no obstructions is a good thing.

She was a skeleton. Every rib visible. Every because they sacrificed a lot through the years of being able to send a child to college, and it just means a lot to me,” Floyd said.

His mother is an Auburn woman. She never received her degree as a Tiger, but Floyd said she’s an Auburn woman all the same.

“She’s where I get my Auburn love from because I was raised by my mom and my aunt in Brewton and it was just my mom’s passion for Auburn; … I often tell people that even though she didn’t get a degree or came here, she believes in Auburn and loves it and that makes her an Auburn woman,” he said.

His dad, however, is an Alabama fan. This leads to some tense communication at certain times of the year.

Floyd is very involved in Auburn Athletics, despite not playing any himself. He is vice president of the Jungle.

The Jungle is Auburn University’s official student organization — not just for basketball.

“I get to know our coaches of different sports,” he said. “For example, I got to know coach Pearl, Bruce Pearl, and he’s just a mentor to me. He has done a lot for me since I’ve been here at Auburn. Like, he even checks on me on class

Probably, she had been caged with other hunting dogs. The dogs were probably mistreated and hungry. Hunger makes dogs mean.

Nobody knows how the blindness happened. But it didn’t take a rocket engineer to figure it out.

“Someone hit this animal with a blunt object,” the veterinarian later said, choking back tears. “Someone beat this poor dog. Maybe with the butt of a rifle.

Maybe with rebar.”

People say that dogs use smell above all other senses. That’s a lie. A dog doesn’t use her sense of smell to avoid walking headfirst into walls. A dog doesn’t use smell to detect body language in other animals or humans.

A car stopped on that lonesome highway. A Samaritan picked up the dog. The dog was apprehensive to get into the car, but then, she was so hungry.

The Samaritan placed her into the backseat. The Samaritan took photos of the animal and posted them to Facebook. Nobody claimed the animal. Nobody even commented. Nobody wants a blind dog.

A local hound rescue was called. They bathed her multiple times. The bathwater was almost black each time. They doctored her wounds. They took her to the vet. The vet removed her eyes and sewed her eyelids shut.

Not long thereafter a guy heard about this animal through a friend. This guy is a flunky redhead with an overbite and a nose so big he can smell the future. He is not handsome, but he has a weakness for animals. Dogs in particular.

Within hours, the guy and his wife drove to the Mississippi-Alabama state line. They met the dog and her foster mother at a barbecue joint. The dog sat beside the guy while he ate. She pressed her body against his.

He fed most of his pork sandwich to the animal. She ate the meat. He ate the bread. When it was time to leave, the lady with the animal shelter said, “So do you want to foster her?”

“No,” said the guy, “I want her to be my daughter.” And we haven’t been apart since. Within the months I’ve had her, she’s gained 14 pounds. She sleeps beside my bed. She travels with me. She has visited 18 U.S. states. Slept in dozens of hotel rooms. She has met a lot of people. And I would even venture to are presented annually by Anders to members of the community that he said he believes are lighting the way. and makes sure I’m attending classes, makes sure my grades are good. So, I like that — he keeps me accountable because he knows bad grades means no basketball games.”

Floyd is the first college student to have received one of the awards.

Like the other award recipients, Floyd had no idea he would be receiving the award. It was actually the work of his local pastor, Wren Aaron, at the Auburn Church of the Highlands West Campus, who managed to get Floyd to the event.

Even in pursuing journalism, things are still sports-related for Floyd. He covers high school football for the Auburn Plainsman — Auburn’s student newspaper.

“Outside of the Auburn Plainsman, I am a part of this high school media entity called Powerhouse Sports,” he said. “And Powerhouse Sports is a sports media group that covers high school athletics in all of Alabama, parts of Georgia and the panhandle of Florida. And that’s just also something that I’ve been proud of.”

Managing sports teams in high school, Floyd said he enjoyed listening to how people talked about sports, referred to sports, discussed sports.

Even figures such as Rod Bramblett and Andy Burcham influenced Floyd.

After college, Floyd said he thinks he’d like to stay on The Plains.

“I don’t think I want to leave Auburn,” he said. “I’m a strong man of faith and I’m the type of person that believes that wherever the Lord leads me, I will follow. And I just think that He has brought me to Auburn for a purpose and I think that purpose, is bigger than my four- or five-year plan — however I take the route — but it’s bigger than my four or five years here at the university. I think it goes way beyond my time of graduation.

“And I just really want to be able to stay here at Auburn and continue to make a difference. And I think that’s what Mayor Anders recognized when he so graciously made me a recipient of the Mayor’s Lamplighter Award.”

Floyd was one of six honorees presented an award, called the Lamplighter Award, by Auburn Mayor Ron Anders at the State of the City Address in November. The awards

Floyd said he had planned on leaving the event early — of course, with no knowledge he would be receiving an award.

“Pastor Wren was in on the plan to get me to the mayor’s address,” he said. “So he was in on it. He was my ride there because Auburn women’s basketball had a game that night … but Pastor Wren was assigned of getting me there. He got me there, but he never told me I was going to be recognized. And when I got recognized, I kind of gave him that death stare like, ‘I can’t believe you knew about this and you didn’t tell me.’” Auburn residents can expect to see Floyd around town for a long time. He truly believes in Auburn and loves it.