Day 67

7/19/22

These pups are exhausted in the best possible way! Lilly went to Walker and Ranger visited with people at Mercy Hospital. They give their love freely and never waver from their goals: To make others happy AND to get that special scratch behind the ears.

I realized that I often feel a bit "spent" after a day like today. We probably interacted with 50 people and some of those interactions were somewhat intense. I don't even have to try to be present and in the moment when I am at the other end of the leash. I have no choice. I see people's need to be heard and comforted and I am witness to the dogs working their magic. Being there and seeing these meetings always touches my heart and I deeply feel the happiness, concern or sadness shared with us. Exhausting for a human? Yes...but at the same time, it fills something deep inside, so I always come out ahead.

Today, we visited dear friends (husband and wife) who would rather be somewhere else, but want the patient to get better. We reminisced, laughed and shared a few stories. It was a beautiful time.

We also were asked to visit a lady who missed her own dog. There were tears, mixed with smiles, and everyone felt the love.

We were on our way out when a woman asked if we could go up to see her husband. Ranger and I exchanged a glance (REALLY) and I told her that we would be happy to visit. Up we went and found a patient who seemed to be struggling. I am always cautious when I see someone who looks like they simply need rest, but he told us to come in.

He motioned us closer, so I moved a cart and Ranger snuggled right up to his bed. His name was Dwight. I had taught at Eisenhower Elementary for years and asked if he happened to be named after the President. He wasn't sure, but that brought up amazing memories and I decided to share a couple stories with the patient.

We are lucky enough to have a cabin on Pelican Lake near Nisswa, MN. My folks bought it in 1968, so I have had the amazing opportunity to spend time there from my teen years until today. On one side of our place, my dad's best friend, Bob, had a cabin. On the other side lived a man named Scotchy. They were all WWll veterans.

Many evenings, I would bake cookies, make coffee and invite these three heroes to sit on the back porch for a visit. After they settled in, they would start sharing stories about the war. I would plant myself in a chair out of range of their circle and soak in every word!

Bob was a Marine. He made four landings on the shores of Japanese held islands in the Pacific. He was a hero.

My dad was in the Army Airforce. He was the operations officer in a bomb group in Italy. He was a hero.

Scotchy was also in the Army Airforce, but his duty was to be the personal pilot for General Eisenhower! He was a hero.

Why I didn't record those conversations, I'll never know. I do know that the stories would have been filtered if they knew they were being taped. I should have written them down. I didn't, but they are written in my heart.

I told everyone we visited today that I would keep them in my heart and prayers. I always ask for first names and do just that. Here's to a speedy recovery to everyone I had the privilege of meeting today.
Also, I am sending love to those three heroes who are probably sitting around telling stories up in Heaven. I bet the angels are loving every word!