'oopy's a Beautiful Dog

by Susan Clark

I just gotta tell you, how great it feels. Snoopy & I visited one of our nursing homes today. Visiting always gives me a great feeling anyway, but today was something special.

In the middle of our visit, I was directed toward a lady in a wheelchair. The nurses aide told me that this lady NEVER speaks, but we could try. She was half asleep in her wheelchair, looking the other way, not responding when I introduced myself. Snoopy then nuzzled her arm gently. It was like magic! The lady's eyes opened wide, the biggest smile in the world appeared on her face, and ..... she started to talk! The nurses aide beamed. The lady needed a little practice saying "Snoopy", it came out "oopy", but I'm sure he didn't mind. She then proceeded to talk more! She said (all by herself), "Oh, what a beautiful dog!", and continued to ask me how old he was. Snoopy even accepted a doggie-cookie from her open hand .... very gently of course!

I guess I wasn't paying too much attention, because when I looked behind me, I saw half the staff. Some with their hands to their mouths, some just standing there with one or two tears running down their cheeks. The activities director was behind me. She gave me a big hug. She told me that unless she had actually seen this herself .... she would never have believed it! Snoopy & I left the nursing home, floating on air .... or so it seemed. Did you ever leave a nursing home while the staff stood along the hallway, clapping and cheering, "Yeh! Snoopy! Yeh! Snoopy!"

Boy, it felt great!

Susan Clark
Lclark8265@aol.com
Copyright © 1996

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This article is brought to you by Dog-Play reprinted here courtesy of the author, Susan Clark

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