And Along Came Sara and Emily

Henry Elliot finally relented and decided he might as well get up. He had slept very little. He knew that today would be as hard a day as he had ever faced. He had to say goodbye to his very best friend in the world.Sam had been Henry’s constant companion for more than ten years. Together, they had explored much of the United States. This included big cities, beaches, forest trails, nine national parks and at last count the two had attended 198 professional baseball games together. Henry and Sam also liked football and tennis, but baseball was their favorite. They loved hearing the organist play “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Henry would start singing and Sam would let out his best howls. Sam’s howls didn’t contribute much to the harmony but no one in the stands seemed to care. Henry and Sam were among the team’s most loyal fans. Sam particularly loved all the attention he got from kids.

Henry went to the kitchen and pulled out the steak he had bought for today. Well, he had tried to buy it but the butcher at the market had insisted that Henry take it for free. Sam had been a loyal customer at the market. It was the least he could do. You see everyone in the neighborhood knew Sam. When Sam’s health started to decline, the word got out. The long walks became much shorter, attendance at the ball games stopped, and Sam no longer had the energy to play with the kids. Sadly, the scourge of cancer attacks dogs as well as humans—even those dogs that have worked their lives to serve as the eyes for their humans who are blind. Henry knew that he would get another guide dog, but he also knew there was no way any dog could replace Sam.

As Henry finished grilling the steak just the way he knew Sam would like it, Sam awoke and came into the kitchen. It was a wobbly Sam that had lost a great deal of weight. He was no longer the beautiful yellow Labrador Retriever that had traveled the country. Henry thought of pushing the inevitable off longer, but he could see the pain in Sam’s eyes and knew it was time to end the suffering of his friend.

Henry and Sam spent their last time together sitting on their balcony. It was a beautiful summer day, and Henry was grateful for that. The veterinarian and her assistant arrived on time. Henry met them at the door and walked them to the balcony.

“I would like to sit in my chair and hold him,” said Henry.

“Of course,” replied the vet.

Henry sat down and the assistant gently lifted Sam into Henry’s arms. The process took only a couple of minutes. As Sam’s body relaxed in Henry’s arms, Henry had the feeling that Sam was saying, “Everything is OK Henry. I’ll be waiting for you. Thank you for my wonderful life.”

The rest of the day, Henry felt loneliness for the first time in years. It wasn’t just a feeling. It was more like a tidal wave that swept him out into the far reaches of the ocean -so far out that he doubted he would ever return. For lack of any better ideas, Henry cleaned his apartment and later had his favorite pizza delivered. It was then that he again missed Sam. Over the years, Henry and Sam worked out a deal. Henry ate the part of the pizza covered in cheese and Sam got the crust. Henry tried the crust but decided he would stick to the cheesy parts and placed all the crust in the trash.

Henry was about to play some of his favorite music when he realized there was a ballgame tonight. The home team was playing and had Sam not taken ill, there was no doubt in Henry’s mind that the two of them would have gone. Henry decided to watch it for Sam.

It was after the fifth inning, when Henry heard the commentator direct all the fans to the centerfield score board. “Ladies and gentlemen, today we lost one of our biggest fans and the team would like to pay tribute to that fan. Sam, a seeing eye dog who has escorted his owner to almost 200 games passed away. Sam was a favorite of fans and players alike and will be deeply missed by all who knew him. Henry smiled also. He hoped that dog heaven had big screen televisions. Sam would be pointing out to all his new friends in dog heaven his picture on the scoreboard. Henry enjoyed the game and listened as the home team hit a home run in the final inning to win the game.

The following day, a representative of the team stopped by with a package for Henry. The entire team had autographed a baseball and team poster for Sam. There was also a framed picture of the centerfield scoreboard with Sam’s smiling face.

Henry stayed home for the next few days for several reasons. It had been years since he had needed to venture about the neighborhood without Sam. He was sure that he could still do it but was reluctant to answer all the questions, comments and condolences about Sam. Now he just wanted time to himself to mourn the loss of his dog. Another reason he wanted to stay close to home is that he was waiting for a phone call from the agency that would be providing him with his next guide dog. He was not expecting to ever have another dog like Sam but nonetheless he was eager to fill the huge void in his life that now existed with Sam’s passing. When the veterinarian had told Henry that Sam’s disease was terminal, he had notified the guide dog agency, and they had promised to start looking for another dog.

It was late on Friday evening when the phone rang. Henry had been listening to the news and had decided to go to bed. Hoping it was good news, Henry quickly answered.

“Mr. Elliot, my name is Sara Ashly from the guide dog agency. You and I have not met but you spoke with my predecessor. I’m new here. First, I’m very sorry to hear about Sam. My understanding is that he was quite a dog. Please accept my condolences for your loss.”

“Thank you,” said Henry. He truly was quite a dog.”

“Well,” said Sara, “We have just had a dog become available that I was hoping might work for you. She’s a lovely chocolate Labrador Retriever. She’s still got a few more things to learn but she’s coming along nicely and is as smart as she can be. She really is a lovely dog.”

“She sounds great,” replied Henry. “I’m a bachelor and have always had male dogs. Do you think she would fit in with my lifestyle.”

“I think she would,” answered Sara. “This dog seems to be one who can handle just about anything.”

“Well, I would like to meet her,” said Henry.

Sara said, “I was hoping you would say that. I’m going out of town for a few days and we’re not supposed to do it this way, but I could drop her off to you tomorrow morning. I’ll check with you while I’m gone and see how the two of you are doing.”

“That sounds fine,” responded Henry.

“OK, I will be at your place around 10:00 AM.”

“Thank you very much. What’s her name?”

“Her name is Emily.”

At 10:00 the next morning, there was a knock-on Henry’s door. Opening the door, Henry smiled and said, “You must be Sara and Emily. Please come in and sit down. Sara, may I offer you some tea or coffee”

“Some tea would be nice, thank you.”

As Henry busied himself making Sara a cup of tea, Emily lay quietly while looking around at her surroundings.

“Henry, your apartment is beautiful. I love the pictures of the National Parks. They’re fantastic.”

Those are all the places that Sam and I visited. Until he got sick, we were quite the travelers. Emily let out a single bark as if to say, “I want to be a traveler too.” Both Henry and Emily smiled as they seemed to understand Emily’s thought.

“How did you manage your trips?” queried Sara.

My roommate from college and I have explored for many years. We started hiking together during college and have continued it all these years. When I lost my eyesight, Bill said he saw no reason for us to stop our outings together, so we stuck with it. At least a couple of times a year we link up and spend a few days in the great outdoors.

“That’s amazing,” said Sara. "I’m a bit of an explorer myself.” I recently purchased a small recreational vehicle. I hope to take some road trips this summer and see more of the country.”

“That’s wonderful,” said Henry.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Sara.

“What else do you like to do?” asked Henry.

“This may surprise you,” smiled Sara but I’m somewhat of a nut for baseball. I love baseball.

“Really,” said Henry, “Let me show you something.”

Henry walked over to his desk and picked up the autographed ball and picture that had been given to him and Sam. Showing them to Sara, Henry said, “I guess you could say that Sam and I were baseball nuts too.”

Sara was about to respond to Henry, when Emily reminded her that she was the real purpose of the visit by nudging Sara’s leg and giving her a look that translated to something along the lines of “I’m still waiting.”

“Henry, Emily has just reminded me that you need spend some time getting to know her. I’ll take her harness off and let you call her to you and put it on. Why don’t you try the basic commands around your apartment and if that works maybe we can go outside and see how she does.”

“That sounds fine,” said Henry.

To say that Emily did everything he asked of her in the apartment to perfection would be somewhat of an understatement. It was almost as if Henry’s apartment had been her home and that she had been Henry’s dog for years. After a few minutes, Sara suggested they try outside. The results were the same. Henry walked around the block and then took a short detour that took them to a park.Again, Emily responded perfectly and was not distracted by anything. She even ignored a pesky squirrel who seemed to be taunting Emily to chase him. Hearing the squirrel’s chirping, Henry introduced her to the squirrel. “Emily don’t pay any attention to Oscar. He’s always here and he knows you won’t chase him. He thinks he’s being brave but he’s just being silly.”

The three of them sat together on a park bench, all of them enjoying the warm spring day.

“You seem very at home in the outdoors Henry,” said Sara.

“I am,” said Henry, “My roommate, Bill, taught me a lot but so did Sam. I think Emily may teach me a lot too.”

“Let’s do this Henry, we don’t usually do it this way and I’m bending the rules a little, but why don’t you keep Emily. I’ll be back in a few days and will come by to see how you are doing. Keep things simple for her. I’ll leave you my phone number and feel free to call me if anything comes up.”

“That’s perfect,” said Henry. “I’ll take good care of her.”

The three of them returned to Henry’s apartment. Sara was preparing to leave when Henry asked her if she would like to take another cup of tea with her for the road.

“Well, that would be fine Henry but you don’t have to do that.”

“It’s no problem at all,” said Henry as he disappeared into his kitchen. Henry returned a short time later with a small thermos of tea and a dozen homemade cookies he had made the night before.

“Why Henry, you bake too?”

“I do, Sam taught me,” smiled Henry.

Sara departed, leaving Henry and Emily alone.

Henry sat down at his desk and used his computer to pull up information on the guide dog agency where Sara worked. Using the read aloud function, he was able to listen to a short note on Sara’s background. All good so far grinned Henry. He then took a screen shot of the page and emailed it to his former college roommate Bill before picking up his phone and calling him.

Bill promptly answered and after the normal friendly exchange between the two ole friends, Henry got around to the purpose of his call.

Bill, I just sent you an email. Open it up and see if there is some information there on a lady named Sara Ashly.

Ok, give me a couple minutes.

Bill came back on the phone and said, “Henry there are only several notes about her. She seems to have a lot of experience working with dogs and is very respected in the field. Why do you ask?”

“First one more question, Bill. Is there a picture of her and if there is about how old do you think she is?”

“Hold on Henry let me look.”

Henry waited very impatiently for Bill to come back on the line.

There is a picture of her Henry. I’m not very good at guessing ages but she is somewhere around your age—maybe a little younger.”

“Ok, Bill one last question. Is she nice looking?”

“Henry, do you remember the professor that we had in college when we took Introduction to Physical Fitness. You took the class because you thought she was gorgeous and you had a huge crush on her.”

“Yes, of course I remember her,” answered Henry.

“Well, she looks like a slightly older version than the professor but every bit as beautiful. I say go for it. She looks like a wonderful person.”

“Thanks Bill, I owe you one.”

“No problem, Henry, let’s get together soon.”

Henry spent the rest of the day with Emily getting to know her and making sure she was comfortable in the apartment. He then called his barber and scheduled an appointment for the following afternoon and looked through his closet to make sure he still had those two nice polo shirts that he had received from Bill for his birthday. As for Emily, she couldn’t have been more at home.

The following afternoon, Emily and Henry went to Henry’s barber appointment and headed back home. Their trek took them past the park they had been to the previous day and the two of them sat and relaxed at one of the park benches.

The two had only sat for a few minutes when Emily suddenly started barking, yanked her leash out of Henry’s hand and headed in the direction of the street. Henry followed as best he could, calling Emily to come back and afraid that something would happen to her if she ran into the street. Henry continued following Emily’s barks as best he could but without Emily’s help he could not move quickly.

Emily’s barking ceased and Henry had to stop and try to get his bearings. Yelling as loud as he could, Henry continued to hope Emily would come back to him.

“Sir, sir!! came a voice. I’m Police Officer Jack Mallory. We have your dog. Everything is OK and your dog is a hero. She stopped a little girl who had gotten separated from her parents from wandering out into the street. Your dog probably saved the little girl’s life. Take my arm and we’ll go get your dog.”

A small crowd of police officers, parents, neighbors, a scared little girl and Emily were gathered beside two police cars. One gentleman was explaining how Emily got in front of the little girl and would not let her venture into the street. There was traffic coming and she probably would have been hit. As Henry approached, Emily walked over and stood beside him as if nothing had happened.

Everyone thanked Henry and Emily. The little girl gave Emily a big hug and the crowd dispersed. Officer Mallory offered Henry and Emily a ride home in his police car. Arriving at his apartment, Henry couldn’t resist asking Officer Mallory to take a picture of Emily sitting in the police car.

Once inside the apartment, Henry and Emily relaxed on the sofa. It had been an eventful day. Emily had saved a little girl’s life and there was no doubt in Henry’s mind that he had found a very special dog. Emily would not replace Sam, but Henry had no doubt she would be a wonderful dog for him in her own special way.

Henry picked up his phone and dialed the number that Sara had left him. When Sara answered she was concerned that something might have happened to Emily. Henry assured her that everything was more than fine and relayed how Emily was now the neighborhood hero after saving a little girl. He also told Sara that he thought Emily would be the perfect dog for him and he very much wanted to keep her as his guide dog. The phone conversation could have ended there but it didn’t. It ended almost two hours later. By the time Henry hung up the phone, Sara wasn’t coming to check on Emily, but she was coming by to have dinner with Henry. While no firm plans had been made there was a lot of discussion about visiting some national parks soon. Before going to bed, Henry purchased a third baseball ticket in case Sara wanted to join him at Emily’s first ballgame.