Happy Birthday, Delsie

Pretty Girl. D-Dog. Toots. Tootie. Delsiemeister.

9 years ago this beautiful, black lab came into my life. And changed it. For the better. Forever. I wouldn't even be involved in this study if it weren't for her. She is my Christ with fur on.

Today is her 11th birthday.

Every night when she hops onto her toddler bed for the night, I sing to her. "You are My Sunshine". And she is. Happy Birthday, Delsie.

I love you further than to the moon and back.

My best friend, Tiffany, wrote this essay for a contest describing her excellence as a service dog. It honors Delsie so well and worth sharing:

Blue skies. It's what I think of when I see her face. I have this photo of her standing on the Santa Monica Pier looking out into the blue horizon (or at least looking at a seagull perched on a pole- what do I know?) Her black shiny fur glistening in the sun, her long pink tongue peeking through a strong set of white canine teeth. She is panting from the heat but is utterly content with her mom by her side. Her mom is holding onto the leather harness, that is strapped to her lean and muscular back, steadying herself for the picture. Funny. They are both smiling. Who says a dog can't smile? And who would have thought a dog, this dog, had the power to heal, to change a life? This life. Her life.
The day Delsie came into Holly's life she rolled back the dark clouds of Friedrich's Ataxia. Friedrich's Ataxia is a degenerative disease that disables fluidity of movement, balance and muscle control. The ability to walk becomes a major undertaking. Simple daily routines require effort beyond belief. But not beyond Delsie's belief nor beyond her scope of support.

Delsie is trained to provide support and balance for Holly. The excellence she displays in patience and loyalty alone surpasses anything a human could provide. She is trained in many daily life skills to help Holly face each day with courage and independence; opening and closing doors, pushing elevator buttons, retrieving household items like the phone, a dropped pen or cup, a book across the room and the list goes on. She even knows how to pull clothes out of the dryer and how to go stealth in restaurants and movie theaters (you should see the way people jump when she comes out from under a table or when she makes her way out of a theater isle!) She is trained to help Holly stand if she happens to fall. And one of her specialties is knowing how to lick away tears of frustration and sadness after bad days and long nights. For the last eight years Delsie has served faithfully with nothing but love and devotion. While all these things are amazing accomplishments for a canine partner, I have to confess, it's the deeper level of her support that blows me away.
We enter this life with hopes and dreams. When we are young the world and all it's glory is at our fingertips. We anxiously plunge toward independence never once imagining the very freedom we live and breath can be taken away in just a moment, a dark moment, in time. But it's amazing how in Holly's life what was taken has been handed back with the help of an amazing dog. This amazing dog. Delsie. The hope and independence, the courage and the comfort, the companionship and peace that comes from this four legged friend makes Holly's independent life beautifully possible.
Blue skies. That's what I think of... when I see her face.