People often speak about the bond between a dog who travels with its blind person as if the dog experiences all the things the blind person does. I don’t personally subscribe to this theory–my dogs have all had minds of their own, slept through my classes, walked away while I was preaching so they could lay their heads in old ladies’ laps, etc. But every dog’s partnership in my life means something unique to me because it enables a piece of my life that would have been different without the dog.
Today I join a very special family in celebrating the life of one of my dogs. I took beginning Hebrew study texts to training with me when this amazing being became part of my life; and when we came home she made it possible for me to lug a big bag with my laptop and three braille books to campus a mile from home so that I could go to Hebrew class every day. That is how she earned the nickname Loretta the Hebrew conquering dog.
She helped me transition from graduate student to professional, even though she was guilty of visiting old ladies while I was preaching. She was a trooper when I attended the conference of the Society of Biblical Literature in San Francisco in 2011.
When retirement time came, she made it clear that it was time for her to be Kevin’s companion and not mine. After she moved in with a new family for her real retirement life, we became her vacation family. Whenever she arrived, she made a beeline for him and not me. And that was ok.
It has been almost three years since I have worked with a dog. Perhaps one day I will do so again. I hope that when the time comes, there is another dog waiting for me who is as gentle and confident in herself as Loretta.
Run free, my sweet girl. 02/07/2005-03/10/2017
