Chapter 6 (Freedom and Animals, cont.)
Gayle
In the late autumn of 1987 my stepdaughter, Trese and I took note of a need announced in the newspaper for Guiding Eyes for the Blind Puppy Raisers. Wendy gone was like a missing tooth. Her not being in my life was a palpable loss. She was my constant companion at home and on walks, and by then I‘d quit my job at Willow Point, giving the reason that I had to concentrate on my new role as a step-mom. (...But I was never comfortable being a nurse. I always felt like I was an accident waiting for a medical mistake to do me in at a patient‘s cost.)
I also was going into menopause, and hadn‘t realized it except that I was feeling like I was getting Alzheimer‘s, forgetting names to the point that I almost had to think about what my own was. Plus my emotions were all over the place. I could use a silent companion like I had in Wendy, but I felt that it would be dishonoring her memory to get a pup so soon. I didn’t want get another Springer, and like replacing my Weimaraner, Kiyoodle, only to compare the new one negatively. In getting a Guiding Eyes for the Blind Puppy, we would be just raising it for a blind person. My main outdoor exercise was walking, while being accompanied by a dog. This would answer my need for a dog while volunteering in an important way. After some conniving and convincing, we managed to get Tom to agree to this venture. I became a Puppy Raiser for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
The pups are named by their kennel, and Guiding Eyes named the first litter of the year litter A. By October 1987, they had gone through the alphabet twice. When she was born in November 1987 her litter letters were GG, preceeded by the number of puppies in her litter--9; ending with the last number of the year, so her number tattooed inside her ear was 9GG7. If she ever got lost or stolen, this would identify exactly who she was through any vet or law enforcement agency.
We got her on January 5, 1988 while Jim was still home from SUNY at Albany for his Christmas break, so Tom’s whole family was there for Gayle‘s arrival. After such an eventful day, when it came to napping in "Daddy’s" arms, the little pup was content with her new life.
Gayle
In the late autumn of 1987 my stepdaughter, Trese and I took note of a need announced in the newspaper for Guiding Eyes for the Blind Puppy Raisers. Wendy gone was like a missing tooth. Her not being in my life was a palpable loss. She was my constant companion at home and on walks, and by then I‘d quit my job at Willow Point, giving the reason that I had to concentrate on my new role as a step-mom. (...But I was never comfortable being a nurse. I always felt like I was an accident waiting for a medical mistake to do me in at a patient‘s cost.)
I also was going into menopause, and hadn‘t realized it except that I was feeling like I was getting Alzheimer‘s, forgetting names to the point that I almost had to think about what my own was. Plus my emotions were all over the place. I could use a silent companion like I had in Wendy, but I felt that it would be dishonoring her memory to get a pup so soon. I didn’t want get another Springer, and like replacing my Weimaraner, Kiyoodle, only to compare the new one negatively. In getting a Guiding Eyes for the Blind Puppy, we would be just raising it for a blind person. My main outdoor exercise was walking, while being accompanied by a dog. This would answer my need for a dog while volunteering in an important way. After some conniving and convincing, we managed to get Tom to agree to this venture. I became a Puppy Raiser for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
The pups are named by their kennel, and Guiding Eyes named the first litter of the year litter A. By October 1987, they had gone through the alphabet twice. When she was born in November 1987 her litter letters were GG, preceeded by the number of puppies in her litter--9; ending with the last number of the year, so her number tattooed inside her ear was 9GG7. If she ever got lost or stolen, this would identify exactly who she was through any vet or law enforcement agency.
We got her on January 5, 1988 while Jim was still home from SUNY at Albany for his Christmas break, so Tom’s whole family was there for Gayle‘s arrival. After such an eventful day, when it came to napping in "Daddy’s" arms, the little pup was content with her new life.
posted by Cranberry Jo @ 1/10/2008 11:27:00 PM
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