By Pam Croy — Denny ! Get yourself in here, let’s get pretty for the folks at Emeritus~~Hurry, Cody wants to go too ,but you get in the house and I’ll shut the door fast so He can’t get in here” Yeah , Yeah, I know ,He’ll sulk for the next day or so, but I really only want to take 1 today, and that 1 is to be you.” Brushed, face wiped off, grooming spray for a nice smell , collar, leash, fresh water, and we’re off ~~Denny stands up in the back of the van , to navigate, but lays down on command like a good boy.
Emeritus is in our sights, We turn in and park. I open the side door, grab a leash, and we head for the front entrance~~Of course, we have to stop and check the tree for messages~~that poor tree, there are so many messages left there, it should charge a fee ~On to the front~~a new little dog there today~~a miniature black poodle~~~Who, BTW is more than convinced that Denny is dead meat and has no hope of surviving an encounter with him. I’m hoping that the elderly gentleman is holding on to the leash, ( he wasn’t and it was one of those retractable things that allowed the dog to get within 2′ of Denny) the elderly man grabbed the remainder of the leash and hauled the dog in.
So, in we go, the lady at the front desk speaks, then down to the dayroom to see our friends. No exercise program yet, everyone milling around, and the current shifts from milling around to flowing in one direction ~~~~ the direction that Denny is in.~~ Sue walks in, “Pam, you’re here, you only brought Denny today “~~as She speaks and stands for a moment, Denny leans into her expecting a pat.
And here comes Frances as fast as she can on her walker: ” you forgot me , you thought I wasn’t here? Now you give me a cookie to give to that boy, you know He expects a cookie from me .”
Lydia is dressed to the 9’s again and tells me She can’t pet Denny today in case he gets hair on her because Her son is picking her up to take her to lunch. There’s a new resident, friendly, looks as tho She may have a touch of Downs Syndrome~~loves Denny~~loves to bury Her fingers in his fur. Sue comes up again and introduces me to another new resident~~All smiles, again reaching down to kiss Denny on the nose~~She had 2 comments : #1 I’ve never seen such a big dog #2 I’ve never seen such a pretty dog~~’course, I’m eating it up, and Denny acts as if He understands too .We walk , we talk, we laugh, Denny presses close.
On to memory Care~~I press the buzzer, they let us in . Denny picks His favorite, She smiles,
“Great Pyrenees, right ? I remembered “pair o’ knees’ like you told me.”
Puzzles, they’re putting together puzzles~~butterflies, birds , flowers~~I look ,I touch, I comment and praise~~one of the Ladies is very serious when She says” I don’t think you should touch them, these girls have worked very hard”~~I apologize~~She smiles and thanks me for coming~~ I go out into the hallway after telling everyone good- bye~~I walk past a Lady and She yells, Stop !
She then reaches for Denny to give him a hug~then She looks up and says~I’ve lost my way to the exercise class, this place is just so big and it winds and winds”I show Her the way, then head for the front door.
The poodle is there, watching, waiting, barred teeth , but luckily the elderly man has a hold on his leash this time .I keep myself between Denny and the little dog.
Back to the tree to check for new messages and then on our way home~~so really nothing spectacular today happened, just a nice visit.
Emertius — May 22, 2014
| © 2012 Copyright Florida Great Pyrenees Club