It started out as a normal spring Saturday, except for the ice and snow which made it feel like the Saturday before Christmas instead of the Saturday before Easter in Colorado. Also different was that we were looking after Elmer, my husband Tom’s developmentally disabled brother.
On Saturday morning, I went to my yoga class while Tom took Oreo, our beloved English Springer Spaniel, to the vet for routine vaccinations. Elmer slept while we went about our daily activities.
When we planned our visit with Elmer, we invited him to join us at the meeting of Denver Pet Partners on Saturday afternoon. Denver Pet Partners' mission is to enhance the lives of people and promote the human-animal bond through animal-assisted activities and animal-assisted therapy. Elmer previously enjoyed attending their meeting, and again he eagerly agreed to do so.
When I arrived home from yoga, I heard the brothers arguing with Tom shouting, “I don’t care whether or not you go to the meeting. If you want to stay home and sleep, that’s fine with me.” Elmer told me that Tom was grouchy and woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Elmer also seemed grouchy as Tom had disrupted his 15 hour slumber. Perhaps we were all grouchy at day three of our four day stint of forced togetherness.
Somehow everyone managed to be in the car when it was time to leave. We decided to stop at Starbucks to get a drink to warm us. Tom and I chose Chai Tea Latte, while Elmer decided on hot chocolate. Recalling several incidents in the past where Elmer spilled hot chocolate inside Tom’s freshly washed car, I volunteered to change seats with Elmer so that he could be near the cup holder, hoping to prevent spills.
While en route, I cued Tom by asking, “Tom, what are the rules at the dog meeting?” Tom answered, “Elmer, you need to introduce yourself to the people at the meeting and shake hands. If you want to pet the dog, you need to ask the owner. If the owner says yes, you need to ask where the dog likes to be petted.” It didn’t seem too complicated except I questioned if Elmer really needed to shake hands with the dog owners.
When we entered the building, Diana, the Executive Director, graciously greeted us, remembering Elmer from one of the past meetings. So far, so good.
When we entered the meeting room, it was full of people with their well-behaved dogs. Sometimes it seems as though it’s a mixed breed of dogs, other times it seems like mostly labs, but today was definitely a golden retriever day. Elmer quickly scanned the room to find the youngest person there and made a path over to meet a teenage girl under the guise of wanting to meet her dog.
At the business portion of the meeting, Diana introduced Elmer. She commented on how much the brothers looked alike. I too noticed the similarity except that Tom has thick curly pewter hair, while Elmer is balding and frequently clips some of his remaining hair with his shaver. Still, so far, so good. Perhaps this will work out just fine.
I fortunately found the perfect place to sit, next to Carmen, dog hander of Gidget who is her good-looking German Shepherd, small for her breed with beautiful golden coloring even around her mouth. Carmen has trained 18-19 puppies, including Gidget, for the Guide Dogs for the Blind. Gidget didn’t make the cut for a blind person because of a heart problem and was returned to Carmen. Gidget became a career-changed dog and has been a wonderful therapy dog ever since. (For more information on different kinds of dogs, check out the posting on my blog, Three Dog Night.)
Gidget must have known that I needed a little dog therapy, as I petted her and she nuzzled closer during the two hour meeting. I had entirely too much Elmer during the past three days.
I’m unsure at what point in the meeting things started going downhill for Elmer. It must have been during the break when Elmer stocked up on chocolate Easter eggs, chocolate bars and chocolate cupcakes. By then, Elmer spilled some of his hot chocolate on his jacket. Within no time, Elmer had managed to get chocolate Easter eggs, bars and cupcakes all over his face. And when he opened his hands, there were melted chocolate bars. And by that time his arms and legs were shaking rapidly (and I was swearing under my breath about the two brothers who hadn’t taken Elmer to a neurologist to diagnose his shaking). It wasn’t pretty.
Tom intervened and told Elmer to go to the restroom and wash his face and hands. Elmer, typically unaware of his long arms and legs, got out of his chair and nearly tripped over Bentley, the calm golden retriever on the floor behind him. During the rest of the meeting, it was a series of Elmer getting out of his chair, nearly tripping over Bentley, going to the restroom and washing his face and hands, and swinging by the food table for more chocolates before making his way back to his seat.
Tom and I wondered who would remind Elmer to wash his face and hands, zip up his pants, get dressed, take a shower and get up on time when he moved into a residential facility for developmentally disabled next week.
Our entire family was going to the dogs.
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