The Story Behind #42
My wife, Megan, and I have always been huge proponents of adopting animals. Along with our 2 dogs, Lola and Hazel, (plus 2 neighborhood dogs, Rocco and Rosco) and 2 cats, Deli and Onion, we brought a stray dog into our lives in late July of 2024. Megan found him on the side of Interstate 75 in Cleveland, Tennessee and the animal shelters in Chattanooga were full, and the shelters in Bradley County as well as McMinn County were full! Knowing that we would keep him until we could find him a home (and my own propensity for being a "foster failure"), I decided to give him a number instead of a name.
It's a trick that farmers will do (like my father in-law, Don) to not get attached to their livestock. I wasn't really thinking about it at the time, but the number 42 popped into my head and later remembered the reference in Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy of 42 being the answer to all of the questions of the universe.
Megan also works for VCA RIVER and knows first hand the incredible stress that animal caretakers are under at the shelters, and I wanted to offer a way for clients of mine to be philanthropic without it costing them money. That's how "Mission 42" was born.