[ SHOWGSD-L ] For The Love of A Puppy
- From: Jessica MacMillan <spotted101@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 20:22:25 -0600
About a week ago, Don's dad Jim, was admitted to the nursing home where Don's
sister-in-law Carolyn is the manager. He is in end stage COPD and Asbestosis
and is unable to be taken care of at home. For the last two months, he has been
in/out of the hospital and now we are in wait/see mode.
Last Tuesday, I received an email from my mom that Mariah, now four months old
needed to come for camp. She was going through a squishy stage and needed to
come and hang out with her GSD cousins for more big dog socializing. Okay.
On the way home from work that day, I decided that I was going to take Mariah,
the 4 month old Dalmatian pup to the nursing home. Perfect socializing and Jim
loves dogs and maybe Mariah could cheer him up.
The next day I received approval for Mariah's visit, picked her up from mom and
met Don at the nursing home. We came in the back door and decided to walk her
around before going in to see Jim - we didn't want her to panic or become
scared in this new situation.
Mariah was anything but scared! She loved it! From the moment she came in the
door, she had a kiss for everyone and giggled and grinned for all. We met a
patient in a wheelchair and after a moment of studying, Mariah carefully put
her front feet up and the lady grinned from ear to ear as the pup covered her
in kisses.
Finally, we made our way into see Jim. He had just woken up. I carefully put
Mariah up on the bed and she just laid right down next to him. He stroked her
ears, her legs and head. She carefully nibbled on his fingers and he started to
smile.
When we did our innitial walk through the building, we walked past a bunch of
staff holding a meeting. I heard a gasp but didn't think much about it. Later,
Don took Mariah for a walk to give her a breather and they met a young lady,
not more than 40 years old, leaving for home. This was the gal who gasped when
she saw the "most beautiful puppy". The lady stopped to talk to the wiggly pup
and was covered in kisses. Don introduced the pup as Mariah.... the color
drained from the gal's face and she asked the pup's name again. Don said
"Mariah". By this point that gal was crying because she had lost her daughter,
Maryah to cancer last May. After some pup kisses to make the tears go away, Don
and Mariah were back in the room to see Jim. We stayed for about an hour and
Mariah was awesome.
Fast forward to this morning. I checked my Facebook email and had a note from a
friend on Denver (I live in Western Wisconsin). Kevin had received an email
from a good friend of his in St. Paul, Mn. She had been reading her
daughter-in-law's Caring Bridge journal and read about Mariah, the Dalmatian
pup that had come to visit the nursing home on a day when she was so sad and
how the happy puppy had been a gift from above.
Kevin asked if this was our Mariah and of course it was. I went to the Caring
Bridge site and read about the young girl who died from a rare form of bone
cancer after a four year battle. And there, in Rachel's journal from Saturday
was her meeting with the puppy and how the pup had made her smile and made
things brighter. I left a message on the site and received an email back about
how much she loved the puppy.
As I was telling this story to our Sales Manager, come to find out that David
also knew this family and Maryah, the little girl.
Such a sad story, but I often wonder if some dogs carry the spirit of the extra
special people. I know Mariah is a special pup, but now she's extra special to
someone else. It has been requested that Mariah make more visits to the nursing
home... you bet. If she can make someone's day a bit brighter then she has done
her job.
Go Mariah, the special pup and GodSpeed Maryah, that special little girl.
Jess Mac
Paisley Dals and the GSD Girls
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