Life, Rescued: Adriaan & Maya
Some dogs arrive unexpectedly and quietly become part of who you are. Not just companions, but witnesses to entire chapters of your life.
For filmmaker and creative director Adriaan Kirchner, that dog was Maya.
Episode 3 of Life, Rescued follows the story of Adriaan and Maya’s relationship over more than a decade together in Los Angeles, from the uncertainty of young adulthood to the realities of caring for a senior dog later in life.
An Unexpected Rescue
Rescue does not always begin with a plan.
Sometimes it begins with a single decision that slowly changes the direction of your life without you realizing it at first.
What began as an unexpected rescue eventually became a partnership that followed Adriaan through his twenties and thirties. As he built a career, moved through relationships, changed homes, and navigated adulthood, Maya remained the constant beside him.
The Rhythm of Growing Up Together
There is something unique about the dog who grows up alongside you.
The dog who sees every apartment, every version of yourself, every success, every difficult season.
Over time, routines form around them. Morning walks. Familiar neighborhoods. The quiet comfort of another presence always nearby.
For many people, dogs become the structure around which life unfolds.
Maya became that for Adriaan.
Senior Dogs and Changing Roles
As Maya grew older, their relationship evolved.
The fast pace of earlier years gave way to slower walks, new routines, vet visits, medications, and the emotional reality of watching a dog age.
Senior dogs ask us to change alongside them.
To become more patient.
More present.
More aware that time is limited.
Caring for an aging dog often deepens the relationship in unexpected ways. The bond becomes quieter, but no less meaningful.
Learning to Say Goodbye
Filmed just before Maya’s passing in April 2026, Episode 3 also reflects on one of the hardest parts of loving a dog.
Knowing someday you will have to say goodbye.
But even after loss, the relationship remains.
The dogs who shape our lives continue to influence who we are long after they are gone. In routines we still follow. In places that remind us of them. In the ways they taught us to care for another living being.
Thank you to Michael J. Lloyd and Chad Mahadevan for bringing this story to life.
Life, Rescued
Life, Rescued was created to document stories like Adriaan and Maya’s.
Stories that remind us rescue is not only about saving animals.
It is also about the animals who shape us in return.
Episode 3 premieres May 20 on National Rescue Dog Day. Watch the whole series on our Youtube channel.
