He then regretfully adds,
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get mad at Adel.”
Tommy’s Autism Guide Dogs never went to school with him. He always found it sad to leave them behind. He went through a phase where he would put Sara, his first dog, in the bathroom, for safekeeping, and say to her, sadly and lovingly,
“So long, old pal.” (quoting Mickey, leaving Pluto behind, in one of his beloved Mickey cartoons.)
When Tommy was about 10 years old, he began traveling across the city daily to attend school at an Autism Class (after many attempts to attend his neighbourhood schools proved unsuccessful, due to unwillingness to accommodate Tommy). Each day, he put Sara on our couch. He called it the Magic Couch. He expressed, in what little language he had then, that Sara would fly on the magic couch all the way to Featherston School (a half hour away by car) and watch over him at school.
Tommy’s dogs have been such a blessing. Sara, blind since the age of 4, is approaching her 15th birthday on Jan 24! She is living with Tommy’s Grandma and Grampa, along with Matrix, his 2nd Dog Guide. Sara naps most of the day. On a magic carpet on their family room floor. I’m sure in her dreams, she is still following him and hovering nearby, keeping watch over his adventures. With her feeble old legs, she couldn’t hop up onto a couch now if she tried! But she sure seems to be having happy dreams in that comfy dog bed of hers, that I just know doubles as a magic carpet.
Thanks, Sara, Matrix, and Adel, for always taking care of Tommy, even when he is off on his adventures. Dogs, especially labradors (and even Damatians covered in soot, hiding from Cruella) well, you are all just the best friends ever.
If you would like to know more about Tommy’s Autism dogs, and their role in his life, read here: