Michelle Duffy Smith

Sweet P 🫛 6 weeks ago we did a legacy photoshoot with our Porter babe. The photos came back yesterday and we felt they deserved a permanent place here. We miss him. We made a pretty sweet family. 💚 Thank you @studiotwelve52 for these amazing memories we will cherish.

A much overdue gals trip with my ‘sole’ sister @samiam1616 💛💛 We had so much fun exploring Sonoma and Napa together, somewhere both of us have wanted to go and had never been. Love you my girl!🥂 Wineries we visited in no particular order: @ridgevineyards @drycreekvineyard @orsifamilyvineyards @overshinewineco @kokomowinery @papapietroperrywinery @artesawinery @truchard @obsidianwineco @gloriaferrerwinery

A week without my sunshine 🌞 After Port left us, the rain and the clouds came for a few days, and I hope that’s because he was taking the sunshine with him as he went. I hope in doggy heaven the colors are the most vibrant and the sunset is full of fire. I hope the fields are green and the skies are blue and the sun is always shining. I hope the walks are free and long and full of swimming holes and adventure routes. I hope his leg is healed so he can frolic through tall grass and flower fields. And I hope the breeze is just strong enough to push his ears back to flop in the wind. I picture all of this when my mind starts looking for him. As I sift through the memories I am sure that he lived the fullest life in 7 sweet and short years because somehow he knew his time was limited here. More states and national parks and bodies of water and trails than most humans have seen, spectacular. Perhaps that’s why he was so full of wonder and appreciation of the way the world looks and sounds. Maybe it’s why I loved him so deeply, a lifetime of love for him and a love I’ll carry with me for a lifetime. I am finding peace in knowing all of this. Port, I’ll look for you in the sky and in the mountains and along the lakeshore. I’ll think of you and smile. 🤍 And to whoever is watching and reading this, I hope it makes you smile too. He was a pretty cool, very happy dude. We can learn a lot from him about the appreciation of life’s simplest pleasures. 🙂

Porter Hudson Duffy Smith 🕊️ October 27, 2018 - April 2, 2026 After putting up the fight of a lifetime, our sweet P has crossed the rainbow bridge and earned his angel wings, peacefully in our home around his fam and hugging his lamb chop. 🪽 There is so much to say and feel yet no words can really do justice the blessing and void. There will never be another Porter. There will always only be him. He was more than my dog. He was the most important part of my world. My true soulmate, companion, and ‘child.’ He is the thing I love the deepest. Porter came into my life when I was learning how to get through it. I had moved to a new place, with few friends, big dreams, and a quiet loneliness I didn’t always know how to carry. I wasn’t even looking for him, and somehow he still found me. After I got Porter, things started to click. He was my roadtrip sidekick, my hiking partner, my brewery buddy, my running companion. He came to work with me and sat under my desk. He was there through everything…multiple houses and states of residence, the highs and lows of love and life. Port was my little sweet constant. He lived a full, adventurous, beautiful life. The evidence of his soul was obvious in the way he stopped to sit on a rock by himself to watch the waves crash against the lakeshore or the sun dip below the mountain tops or the ducks fish for dinner in the pond. The way he’d sit on the balcony and take in the sun or the wind or the transition from daylight to darkness. He had a soul. He was loyal in a way that is hard to explain unless you felt it. Always watching, always checking, always protecting. He stepped into a leader role with his brothers and took care of all of us. He gave nose bumps when he wanted something, and then kisses after he got it. He wasn’t just my dog. He honestly felt like an extension of me. He’s done fighting the good fight now. He can rest. We are all at peace. I hope dogs in heaven can see all the colors, that the sun always hits his spot, and that every walk he takes ends with a body of water. I love you forever, Port. 🤍🕊️

Pura Vida bebe! ✌️🌴 🌊 🐒

A bonus year with you! 💫 Our guy P is officially one year since his diagnosis. One year ago, the doctors found his cancer, and proceeded to give him about 4 weeks. 52 weeks later… 🥹😁🥰😍 We often update on Porter’s status and, forgive me, closeness to the end. But the reality is we spend every day grateful for every extra day we get with him and it’s more important for us to celebrate life than dread what’s to come. More days than not, he tries to be just a regular guy. Despite having half a jaw and walking in a prosthetic brace and with multiple tumors pressing against his insides, he’s just a regular pup who wants to watch the birds and chomp the snow and chase the squirrels and eat the treats and go on walks and swim in water and snuggle with his pawrents and watch the sun move across the sky from a perfect spot, whereever he chooses that to be. There are so many lessons folded into this whole journey, and I’m reminded of those often. But today and every day we’re just so f*cking grateful for him and his spirit. And his love for us, because we sure as hell have a lot of love for him! 🤍🤍🤍

What’s goin’ on party people, let’s gooo! 🤘🤘 In a blink, the 2026 @midsouthgravel race is over but I’ll be thinking about this one for some time. Isn’t it crazy how fast the race comes and goes, after how much it takes to get to the start line? After last year’s cancelation, the tandem throwdown between @coreysmith41 + I and @hannah.glatter + @jaredgab finally got to play out. It’s kind of funny how we and many others knew this race was “a thing” and I truly believe it’s because we all knew there was a good chance it would be an even match. Maybe both groups convinced ourselves there could be a path to winning handily, but I think we each knew it could also be a battle of different strengths. Turns out our strengths weren’t all that significantly different from one another. We were an even match, duking it out for 106 miles. A true race, with one another almost always in sight. It’s kind of magical to see all of your hard work play out for 5.5 hours, and I was incredibly proud of the work I put in and got out of it. On the tandem you can see that play out for your partner too, and I know how hard he worked. Uniquely, we got to see that play out for our competition as well. A bit annoying to see them all day + never break free as it meant there was no second to let up 😆 but a whole lot of respect was built out there too. Around mile 103, initiated by @jaredgab , we exchanged pleasantries about the day, race, effort it was requiring to get the win. And then back to heads down, to finish in a sprint. In a finish line built for everyone, our 2 tandems barreled into the straight, dodging 50 milers and each other. It was perfectly chaotic, and Jared and Hannah took the win. While I think we rode strong enough for that to have been us, I know this win meant a lot to them, and candidly if the race wasn’t canceled last year I know they deserved last year’s. So it was a bit poetic in the end, some immediate heartbreak + defeat for us, quickly followed by a realization that in today’s age of gravel, how epically fantastic to have a finish line moment like that. Two tandems avg 19.4mph in a race within a race finishing in the top 35 out of 1100. Til next time 🫡

Tomorrow is the day @midsouthgravel . This race is special because it’s the first bike race I attended as a participant in 2020. It’s special because that same year I met @coreysmith41 here. It’s special because I don’t often get to be on the start line as a participant instead of as a producer. And because it brings me back to my days of being a competitive runner, and the pre race jitters are a fleeting feeling I really appreciate. It’s special because we’ve won here twice and get to experience the journey together. Because as cheesy as it is, riding on a tandem with my partner at the place we met is a regrounding for our relationship each year. And because the culture, course, brand, vibe and people here at @midsouthgravel are important to me. In essence, we simply love this race. And this year feels extra special. Yes, I’m coming in with more structured training that I committed to and was able to stay consistent with after moving to Minnesota and traveling less. But it’s also extra special because the last few months have been a tumultuous series of events personally. I plan to channel those emotions and think of a few special folks while out there surfing the red dirt tomorrow. Grateful to do this with my husband, my friends, and a few thousand other badasses chasing their own stories on red Oklahoma dirt.❣️

From Minnesota to Colorado + Wisconsin, two perfect wintry weekends to close out February. 💌

Colorado ski trip 2026, didn’t want you to end. 🩵

The thing I love the most about me is you, P. 🖤 It’s been a minute since we gave an update on little Porter Pie. Not because everything is dandy, but because honestly, we’ve been just trying to take it all in stride and understand the changes he’s experiencing. He’s our little miracle guy, almost 1 year post-diagnosis when all they’d given us was a few weeks and little hope. Many have asked how Porter is doing. The truth is…not great. His tumor, growing up against all his vital organs in his neck, turned an aggressive corner over the last week and now feels bigger than a softball. We can see, and hear, the changes in him. Our time is short. But what we are focused on is this: Our guy is still full of light and love and joy. He still loves going to Home Depot, and running through snow in the yard. He loves car rides and new squeaky toys and still won’t say no to a treat. His tail wags when we come home, or enter the room he’s snoozing in. He jumps up to give kisses and snuggles harder than he ever has before. Wow has he made the most of his situation and it fills me with happiness and pride and satisfaction knowing we all gave it our all. We’ll have the University of Minnesota take a look at him on Wednesday and make some decisions on where to go from here. There are no new cards to be dealt. But we’ll fill our chaotic home full of dogs with intense love and comfort and snuggles with the whole pack while we can. This has been a hell of a ride. Thank you to so many who have checked in and followed along. I hope this little guy serves as inspiration. Enjoy a few moments of Port from the past few weeks. 🤍🤍🤍

It’s easily been a hard year, 2025. Saying goodbye to a home we loved and friends we miss. Grieving the loss of a loved one and the inevitable loss of my best friend. Traveling, not for fun but for doctors and surgeries and fighting for the life of one who can’t himself. Transitioning to a new state, new jobs, and searching for where we belong in our new social lives. Ah but a day like today offers perspective that can’t be remiss. Through the clouds there was so much sun. Lots of little moments and visits to places I love and visits from people I love. Moments on the water and on the trails and weekend getaways where the itineraries were crafted around our pups. New places and new jobs and a new home that provide opportunity. The lessons from my best friend who can’t communicate about the importance of resilience and optimism and the ability to enjoy the little things. Witnessing love enter new chapters, celebrating big birthdays and cheering on my hubby, my friends and my family chase big goals and achieve them. How easy it can be to miss the little moments. But how important it is to remember them. Now we’re looking forward to 2026, where travel and goals are set and we face the inevitable with Port. But life’s worth living for the moment. And that’s where we’ll be. 🍻