Wow keeping up with this blogging thing can be hard. Some days I’m very motivated to write and the day just seems to get away from me. I hope that those of you that are celebrating holidays this month are enjoying time with people you want to be with. If for you that means time with Netflix I can totally relate to that too. I don’t live terribly close to my family so I usually hang out with friends on Thanksgiving and plan my trip home for about a week at Christmas. So I will be going home on Thursday and I couldn’t be more excited about seeing my nephews. We FaceTime and talk on the phone fairly often and my sister and brother in law keep me up to date on all the new things they are doing but we haven’t been in the same room since last Christmas. (Thank goodness for face time!!!). Sometime around the end October I sent my 4 and a half and 2 and a half year old nephews a box filled with Halloween Goodies.( if you have littles in your life you know how important the half is.)
Also in the box was a book telling the story of a little boy getting a mobility service dog. I really want the boys to be as involved in this journey with me as much as they would like to be My sister explained to my older nephew that I would be getting a dog like the one in the book and some of the things that we all hope the new dog will be able to help me with. We are collectively trying to ease them both into the concept. So when he heard I was coming for Christmas he wanted to know if I was bringing the dog. I have talked with my sister about ways that I plan to include him in the next part of the journey. He seems pretty interested and that’s super fun for me. Family and friends support is a very important piece of this in my opinion. Because keeping it real here if I didn’t have that support I might let my brain which is prone to go places I have never given it permission to go anyway, take over and low and behold I fall down the proverbial Alice in Wonderland type hole. You know, where I can’t see the bottom and nothing really makes sense. Some of you I’m sure can identify with this. The first dog a person is totally responsible for teaches them things be that dog a pet or a working dog, about themselves . So right now here are my chief thoughts about the continuing journey to a new service dog partner. I keep having these dreams about Nikki. No one told me that this journey would be so emotional. I think about her constantly. It doesn’t make me sad, but I’m a crier so happy or sad ... cute dogs on tv, other people’s service dog videos, I’m there and it makes me cry. I’m going with this must be normal. (For me) Then there are the more practical things. If all goes well. I will start bringing the dog home in early February, when training begins. I am nervous. No one tells you about the nerves either. It’s been quite a few years since I had to take care of a dog . We are starting this new adventure in the middle of winter. So that means bundling up and braving the chill which my body hates way more than it used too, because my new friend will need to go out for exercise and other things. I’m of course willing to do whatever needs to be done and I whole heartedly believe that it will go well, But it will be an an adjustment for both of us. My roommate has a sweet snuggly jack russel mix. We’ve discussed at length how to handle their adjustment to each other. SSD knows all about her of course. I talked all about her in my meet the dogs session. She likes other dogs and we think they will be buddies after that new roommate adjustment period. We think they will keep each other entertained. Perhaps the silliest but somehow very real concern is what if my new friend really just decides he doesn’t like me. I can hear you laughing. But wait hear me out. I had an amazing bond with Nikki and even though that sometimes caused unforeseen issues, most of it I wouldn’t change. I liked that I was her person and she liked that she was my dog. I know this will come with time, and every relationship is different even with our dogs. But there is a small part of me that worries a little bit that he will not like me. Which in more adult terms means I am concerned about the bonding process. I share all of this with you to help you understand that I think all of my feelings are normal. (For the most part) Most of the time I am super excited that this is coming soon. But I know some people who read my blog are in other parts of the service dog process, or with other programs and maybe this will help some of them to know whatever they feel is okay too. New phases in life are exciting and nerve wracking because we just cannot know what we do not know yet. Remember what I’ve said about how important the support system is. For me, in this phase of my life, that’s mostly been my sister. I told her some of this and she listened and then said, “ I hear you and I understand. But If you weren’t a little nervous I’d be more surprised.” And after some more thought I’ve decided to focus on excited for now. Because my friends in a little more than a month and a half I’ll know who I matched with as long as everything goes according to plan. Thanks to all you for your continuing support. Please check out the links at the top of the blog to learn more about Susquehanna Service dogs or my continuing fund raising efforts.
And Remember to Keep Doing You. 💚
