Goodbye Mr. D

                                           

I remember each time entering Mr. D’s room. Even before I had a chance to ask how he was feeling he always said “Hi Blondie,” the name he had given to Maggie.

Mr. D passed away last week. He was one of my regulars at the VA hospital and definitely one of my favorites. You never heard a complaint come out of Mr. D’s mouth. Always a smile on his face. His favorite topic-baseball-and I never admitted I didn’t fully follow the game. He probably knew but never let on. We danced around the topic. We enjoyed each other’s company and conversation. But most importantly he enjoyed his time with Maggie. I know Maggie enjoyed her time with him as well. When we turned the corner near his room she used to pull on her leash eager to enter his room. This past time she pulled on the leash and then stopped. The smells were different. She looked up at me.

“I know,” I said “I miss him also,” I told her as I patted her head.

Is it wrong of me to ask how he passed?

I was told Mr. D was transferred to the main hospital for a procedure. He was left alone momentarily in search of a consent form. When they returned … he had passed.

So like Mr. D. No complaints, and in his own terms.

Goodbye and a salute from Maggie and me.

You will be missed.

My Most Favorite Place

                                                   

With schools being closed over the summer Maggie and I have had the opportunity to shift out focus and spend time with middle school kids (and the literacy program) at many libraries across the area. We’ve traveled to the East town Library, Ridley Park Library, Ridley Township Library and the Gladwyne Library. Seeing smile’s on kid’s faces when they greet Maggie is one thing but when they have a book in hand adds to the delight. Many of these programs are scheduled in the evening as these kids are in camp during the day. They come in raring to go with tons of energy to read and tons of questions about Maggie.

I am always curious which books each child picks to read. This season I have seen a lot of “Captain Underpants”, Pete the Cat series”, A bunch of books about animals, “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, and some “Judy Blume’s a tale of the Fourth Grade Nothing”.

Being a part of the Literacy program is a wonderful experience. The idea is for the kids to read to the dog (or rabbit) in a non judge-mental environment. I love that the program continues over the summer as well. It helps reinforce their reading skills.

Does anyone remember the old Zany Brainy stores? They had a summer reading program for kids. The idea was to read a book a week and come in to the store and talk about it. What a great concept. Parents had to come drop the kids off for reading/discussion time at the store. Reading time=shopping time! My kids were part of this program and loved it as well. (I can’t begin to tell you how many toys we bought at the same time!)

This summer reading program has been a win win (and win). Maggie gets lots of hugs and treats. The kids get to practice their reading while petting Maggie and I get to be in my most favorite place.

The Library!!

My Own Bit of Therapy

                                              

I recently received some unfortunate news concerning a family member. Over the course of the following days I turned to Maggie as a source of comfort. As this was not my only time I have literally sat on my kitchen floor snuggling with Maggie I got to thinking… when I take Maggie on her visits the time allotted is one hour. We do this so not to wear out the dogs. When we are at the hospital we are on the go and move from room to room. There is no set time for each room but we try to visit as many rooms as possible. My question is how much benefit does one really get from a few minute visit from Maggie? What I mean to say is when I was on my kitchen floor with Maggie and feeling very down I spent quite some time with her-as much time as I needed till I felt a little better. I’m not saying that the people in the hospital are all feeling down but does a quick visit really elevate their mood?

Well, I certainly hope so. I also know for a fact that for the elderly people we visit it gives them something to trigger a memory, especially if they’ve had a pet before in their life. Hopefully this will be a happy memory.

Another thought worth mentioning is that quite often while either walking Maggie (especially over the summer at the shore) or else just sitting outside of Starbucks I will be approached by an individual to say Maggie reminds them of either their dog or a dog they know . This starts a conversation while they are petting her. This leads to a continued conversation about Maggie being a therapy dog etc. etc.

I’ve gotten a couple of responses of “I’ve been thinking about doing that with my dog.”

It makes me happy to be able to share my life with random people. It bothers me that we pass people on the street without uttering a hello every so often. I like to connect with people.

A dog can really bring people together in so many ways!