Saturday, June 2, 2012

Miss Twinkie...THE CHARM



Meet Zachary's best-friend Twinkie!!  (He asked me a couple of days ago if Twinkie could be his best friend which was so sweet!)  Twinkie is a full-bred Golden Retriever; her mom Melody and dad Romeo are part of 4 Paws' breeding program.  Twinkie is part of the Snack Cake Litter born on June 3, 2011.  Isn't she the prettiest little thing??!!  :)  Several of her brothers and sisters are part of our class as well.  It's always fun to see pups from the same litter being trained and placed for service with other extraordinary kids!


Zachary has been very bouncy and a little emotional today.  He's trying really hard to keep his body and mind "organized" today, but he's got a lot to process and hasn't been all that successful at times.  It's been trying for us at times today.  He's still concerned that Elfie won't be here when we get back because she has to go live with God in Heaven since he's getting another new dog.   When he lost Aubrey last January, we told him that Elfie was his "new dog" because Aubrey had to go live with God in Heaven.  The most difficult part for me about hearing Zachary ask me this type of question is that he does not know that Elfie has the same kidney disease as Aubrey and will indeed go to Heaven and live with God sooner than later. Such big worries for such a little person....my poor little guy.  The beauty of it all, though, is that the ups and downs that Zachary has experienced throughout the day today are the very reason he needs a best-friend like Twinkie.  


On the flip-side of his sadness and anxiety, he's super-excited to meet Twinkie and wanted to leave for Ohio 10 minutes ago...you sort of live in the here and now when you have ADHD.  LOL  We're excited to meet Twinkie, too, as we've already seen the positive impact a service dog has had on Zachary's day to day life.  He's already in love with her and talks about the things they'll do and the places they'll go together.  For as many challenges as Zachary may face, he has a keen sense of self-awareness and knows in his heart that Twinkie WILL be his best-friend and help him out on days like today.  What more could we ask for, right??

7 comments:

  1. I am so looking forward to reading your posts from training! We hope you have a great trip and we can't wait to read all about it!! =)

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    1. thank you! i blogged our last training experience with aubrey. it was a great outlet for me, and it was wonderful to be able to reach out to so many people while we were so far away! stay tuned... :)

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  2. Kristy, sorry he's having anxiety but in two weeks, he'll see. :D Be grateful he can express his anxiety with words. This too shall pass.

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    1. zach is, thankfully, much calmer and more organized today. as much as it breaks my heart when i see him struggle and hear him ask/say such heart wrenching things, i am so grateful that he's able to tell us how he's feeling for better or worse. that's half the battle...as we both know. :)

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  3. I will be following again...so inspired by the courage of your family. Best of luck for safe travels!

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    1. thanks, meg! :) hope you're feeling well! say hi to your mom. i didn't have her email address, so i couldn't forward her the info for my blog. i know she followed me last time, so would you mind getting the link to her?? thanks! xoxo

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  4. I don't think my first comment made it to publication. I'm looking forward to the blog; the blog you wrote the first time at 4Paws, for Aubrey's training (RIP Aubrey) was fascinating. I'm sure this will be too - but, hey, I don't mean to pressure you or anything.

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