THE SANTA HAT
Gracie and I decided to accompany Angela and Lottie to the
hospital to sit in on a group therapy session with brain injured
patients. I had heard from the neuro psychologist how much Lottie, had
helped the patients she was trying to reach. I had to see for myself.
Lottie has a gentle spirit and a sensitive intuitive nature.
But what I was about to witness would surprise even me.
Being just days before Christmas, the group was unusually
small with only four attending. For a while patients were talking about dogs
they had once had and about someday getting another dog, ‘when they get
better.’ Gracie visited everyone and then figured Lottie ‘had it covered’ so
she curled up in the corner of the room and fell asleep.
Soon a wounded soldier in rehab was asked by the
therapist if he was sleeping any better at night. He said, ‘No, the
nightmares still come.” As he began telling of the horrors of war that returned
to him each night, Lottie, off leash, went to him. It started simply
enough, with this special therapy dog placing her front paws on the sofa where
both Manny and the therapist sat. As he talked, his level of stress
increased and his leg started slowly bouncing up and down in a nervous
rhythmical way. And as it did, Lottie, or “Loddy Doddy” as Manny calls
her, crawled, or as I like to say, oozed, slowly onto Manny’s lap. Soon,
without fanfare or notice, Lottie was sitting in the middle his lap. It was as
if she was showing him the way to warmth and safety. Manny never missed a
beat. He accepted and welcomed her with open arms and heart, as he continued
talking about the frightening nightly interruptions.
Lottie, sitting upright, soon placed her head on his
shoulder and snuggled into his neck. The eyes of the therapist turned to
me. As we locked eyes, we both realized something quite incredible had
happened. Words were not spoken, nor were they even necessary.
Manny, wearing a red and white Santa hat with the pompom off to the side,
buried his face into the fur of this big black lab, his leg quieted and
he gently stroked Lottie.
Manny may have trouble with nightmares, but for that moment
he was at peace.
After all, isn’t that what Christmas is all about?
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