Though very short, Daisy stood in line for a pedicure with a posture that exuded confidence, radiance, and joy. Accompanied by a beautiful flower crown atop her short, bleach-blonde hair, her wide smile was outlined with bright red lipstick. At her feet slept a massive, black dog, almost equalling Daisy’s size and probably doubling her in weight.
“What breed is she?”
“She’s part Rhodesian Ridgeback and part Labrador Retriever.”
“Wow. She’s beautiful. How old is she?”
“She’s going to be ten in March and we’ve been together since she was 6 months old, the longest, most successful relationship I’ve ever had in my life. Here’s the thing: She’s a service animal and she protects me. Actually, she predicts the seizures that I have. But, I have been very sure to maintain separation between when she’s not working, not on duty and when she’s not in service. When she’s not on the leash, she is very much, 100% a dog and she has a lot of puppy left in her. ”
“Yes, she does! I can tell!”
“I think that, just like humans, your spirit determines how fast you age.”
“That so interesting! Tell me more about this.”
“Yeah! It’s because the older you get, the less shit you give, you know? She’s about to retire and I’ll get another service animal that she will train herself. She deserves it. After that, we are going to go on a national parks tour. We like to call it ‘the biggest backyard tour’! I think that she will be a puppy all over again. I never took that away from her. They say labs are puppies for three years instead of one, but she actually was full-force, good-to-go for about six years. And then, every year, when the temperature drops in Autumn, that’s her favorite season. She’s a puppy all over again. I think it might be from enduring the heat in the summer. Once that first cold front comes, she’s doing backflips, a little slower now that she has a root beer belly, but you know, whatever!”
“That’s so funny! My dogs do the same. I have two small ones. How did you find her?”
“I have never gone looking for a dog, ever. Dogs always find me. I didn’t think I’d be a lab person, but she’s an extraordinary entity.”
“What’s her name?”
“I’m Daisy by the way! Anyways, her name Bella Notte, but I just call her Boss. I do whatever she tells me. She never steers me wrong.”
“Really? That’s beautiful. Remind me, how long have you had her?”
“I’ve had her for about nine and a half years. She found me. I needed to be saved and she’s a superhero. She was sent to me by powers I can’t even comprehend. In so many ways, she was exactly what I needed.”
“Amazing! How so?”
“Well, I had just lost my two boy dogs. I love dogs, but in my heart kept saying never again. My heart was so broken. I told myself that I was never going to go through that again, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever!”
“I completely understand that feeling. It’s heart wrenching!”
“But I think those two boys sent her to me because, when she was abandoned at my friends house, she was just crazy, hyper energy and didn’t know how to eat, shit, swim, ride in a car, eat out of a bowl, go outside, walk on a leash… They had spent no time with her, zero! That’s why she was crazy, you know? So, I had a long talk with her. We’ve had conversations since day one. I said ‘Listen dog. You seem real nice, but I cannot love a dog right now. But, I will spend six weeks with you and I’m going to get you in ship shape because I believe that you don’t deserve to be abandoned.”
“Exactly, no animal deserves that!”
“Yes. Her response was ‘whatever, I’m staying!”. She never wavered. And soon enough, she became my best friend. We hung out for about five years and when I started to have my seizures, she was the first one to predict them. She knew before I did, before the doctors did… crazy!”
“Do you know what the cause of the seizures is?”
“Well, they’re psychogenic seizures caused by post traumatic stress disorder. It’s like my body goes to the point where my central nervous system goes into overdrive until I feel like I’m having a stroke and I go as close as I can to having a stroke but my body shuts off. You know, like a computer! I lose consciousness. But, I had her certified to be a service animal companion so when she started traveling with me (we go everywhere together), I don’t really have seizures anymore, unless I have a particular section of my life that’s a lot of stress. I don’t fear them anymore when I go out in public. She senses any kind of my stress and she will just quietly lead me out of that circumstance. She parts crowds like Moses!”
“That’s incredible. I will keep y’all in my prayers.”
“Well, thank you! She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don’t know how I got so lucky. I don’t deserve her, but I work really hard every day to try and pay her back. I don’t think any of us deserve dogs!”
“I agree!”
“We really should readjust our values. You know, I have a truck that we travel around in. The backseat is like a covered couch for her and I ended up taking the passenger seat out so that she can have more space.”
“That amazes me. You are so selfless. You hardly have any space.”
“Well, thank you again! And thanks for talking to me! Sidney and Sebastian, right?”
“Yes!”
“So I’ll be writing about you guys in my book!”
“Oh, really? We are honored!”
“It’s my thankful book. I keep a lot of my gratitude in there. Anyone who goes out of their way and they didn’t have to do whatever they did, I write their name down. See, I’m super blessed and I can’t handle anymore blessings, so at the end of the day I ask the universe to transfer those blessing onto those people who were so kind for no reason at all and make my day!”
“Wow! Thank you so much!”
“So tonight, ask the universe for whatever you want!”
“Thank you again, Daisy! Goodbye!”
“Goodbye!”