East Dallas family creates Daisy’s Memorial Dog Stick Library near White Rock Lake

East Dallas neighbors, if your family includes a beloved pet, go grab him or her now. There’s a fairly good chance you’ll want to give your fur baby a hug after reading this.

Down on Fisher Road, close to White Rock Lake, Mark Coleman and Kimberly Haley-Coleman make their home. In front of their place, near the street, stands Daisy’s Memorial Dog Stick Library, a tribute to Daisy, the family dog, who died in 2024. The structure, handmade by dad Mark and daughters Maggie and Haley, encourages dogs walking by to “take/leave a stick.”  Think Little Free Library but with sticks and tennis balls.

The Dog Stick Library was a labor of love and a way to cope with the family’s loss. Kimberly explains, “I needed someplace to park my grief and lingering warm fuzzies.”

Described by the Colemans as “shy, hesitant, not brave, very needy and full of love,” the sweet Labrador joined the family in 2012 at 7 weeks old and quickly made herself at home. “Daisy was the love of our life and the glue to our family,” Mark says.

“She was a huge part of our lives, the subject of so many of our conversations, and the pile of warm fuzz that instantly brought our stress level down, even if she left yellow fur everywhere that smelled like funky corn chips no matter how often we bathed her,” Kimberly adds.

Daisy, like every dog, had her own unique personality. “She refused to retrieve or play with other dogs, was afraid of leaves falling, thunder and anyone who couldn’t see she liked to be talked to in a baby voice,” Kimberly laughs.

But she enjoyed serving her family, and one of her “duties” was bravely escorting Maggie and Haley to school. “She would leap into the passenger seat,” Haley remembers, “paw at the door until the window rolled down and hold her nose up high as we cruised down Mockingbird Lane.”

Haley continues, “She never disappointed me, ever.” She pauses. “Well, except when she decided to make friends with a skunk. That was bad.”

Daisy also served as Mark’s security guard on his daily runs in the neighborhood, but “she insisted on carrying the leash bundled up in her mouth.”

She loved hanging out with the family, even though she could be a bit underfoot. “She took up the majority of the kitchen floor when we were cooking, so we all got pretty adept at a Twister-style game of getting food prepped while navigating around an 80-pound smelly blob of sweet fur,” Kimberly says.

Sweet Daisy enjoyed a wonderful 12 years with her family until she died of old age. Six months later, they erected Daisy’s Memorial Dog Stick Library and announced the grand opening on social media. “Attention all good boys, girls and their humans: the wait is over! Drop by curbside: furry friends can take the paw-fect stick or ball, or donate one for others to enjoy … in celebration of my girl’s legacy of love and play.”

The post struck a chord, generating about 150 likes and dozens of comments, most along the lines of, “This brings me joy,” or, “Teary-eyed.”

When the Colemans see dogs discovering Daisy’s “library,” it makes them happy. “Seeing all the dogs stop at our house on their walks gives us untold joy,” Kimberly smiles. They sometimes have the opportunity to chat with dogs and their people who stop by. “It always leads to a good discussion about their dog, which sure makes me smile,” she says.

Some visitors even leave notes of appreciation. “Most tell us how it made them smile and remember how much their own pets mean to them and other sentiments along those lines. They do mean so much to us.”

Daisy’s Memorial Dog Stick Library recently reappeared on social media, this time from neighbor Hari Bhushan, whose wife Morgan Martindale noticed it when she was biking by and took a photo. The post, once again, touched readers and received almost 600 reactions and over 60 comments, all variations on lovely, glorious, wonderful.   

One commenter wrote: “This is absolutely heartwarming and special. Shows the love you had for your dog.”

Another wrote: “What a beautiful memorial for Daisy. Our fur babies are our family. Daisy is sharing what she loved. This is genius and a masterpiece of love from her family. Now Daisy, you run, have fun and chase you some tennis balls and sticks in Heaven.” 

By channeling their grief, the Coleman family found a way to treat good dogs to a nice stick or ball and to remind humans to love their pets during their all too brief time with us. “She was so much to us in so many ways,” Kimberly says of Daisy, “full of love and warmth and sweetness. We miss her.”

Said one sage commenter on social media: “Daisy was very loved and how kind that she and her family are giving this love to others.”