Finding Happiness

In 2010, my Grandmother had a stroke that has left much of her left side paralyzed resulting in her being confined to a wheelchair. She used to be the most lively person I knew. Strong and independent; enjoying life to the very fullest. A hero who had endured much and explored the world any chance she got. All that vigor was lost after he left the hospital. When your routine, your independence, your world, gets taken away, life gets darker I suppose. It pained me to see my grandma in such a state. She was once so happy.

The stroke took much of that happiness away from her. She now requires full time care due to her physical limitations now. Before I was born she raised Samoyeds. She had four by the time I came onto the scene. I grew up with her last, Luka. Since her stroke she has been wishing for another dog but due to being confined in a wheelchair she kind of lost hop for having a canine companion. I would bring my dog, Zoey over for visits which always seemed to liven her up and then I would bring over other dogs that I was watching so she could meet pups off all sizes. When we did talk about getting her a friend I warned against getting a large, working breed, as much as she wanted one.

Her care aides noticed she always perked up when she had visitors, especially those of the four legged variety and agreed that it would be nice to have a small one to call her own. As I would bring over more and more smaller breeds she still wanted that Samoyed.

Fast forward to last week. My co-worker has come into fostering this sweet little fox terrier named Biscuit, that needed a new home. She spends a week at daycare and it’s apparent that she might be a good candidate for my grandma! She’s quiet, well mannered, older at 7 years, potty trained and loves to cuddle. My co-worker brings her over to my parents for a test night to see what their opinion of this little lady was. My dad instantly fell in love (Though that’s easy for him, he has a weak spot for dogs) and my mom wasn’t far behind. 

On Wednesday I bring her over for my grandma to finally meet. Things go off without a hitch and soon Biscuit is happily lying in my grandma’s lap, receiving tons of pets from her. The first care aid to meet her is ecstatic and loves the little terrier. Great! Success so far! They are going to test her over night and the following day I was to pick her up and take her to go get checked out at our local vet.

The next day I get a phone call from my mom warning me that the other care aide (there’s three) is having issue with the dog. Apparently she doesn’t want to have to look after her and my grandmother. Yikes. So this is going to be a hurtle to jump if possible. 

The first care aid was in awe of how lively my grandma had perked up simply over the 16 hour period she had seen her with biscuit. She’s normally not all to interested in getting up to get stuff done in the morning but I heard that she was eager to get up and out of bed to tend to the little pup and make sure she went out to pee. That brought a huge smile to my face. That’s why I wanted her to get a little, easy going dog. It would motivate her to get up and moving, give her something to be responsible for.

Biscuits checkup went very well. I was super pleased to see her not mind the vet poke her all over and flip her upside down. Hell, I think she enjoyed the attention. So I return the pup back to my grandma’s for another night. Things seem to be going well so far. I spoke with her this morning and I was overjoyed to hear how happy my grandma sounded on the phone. Normally when I call to ask how she’s doing she doesn’t have much to say and never wants to talk about her day. She was a bubbling mess, she was so damn excited to talk about Biscuit.

So, tomorrow the pup meets the last care aide and we will have to see how that goes and if we can get everyone on board for this dog and my grandma’s happiness!