Dogs and Our Recent Alzheimer's Association Walk

Ziggy and I at a Walk

My friend Connie and her dog Donner accompanied my dog Ziggy and me on an Alzheimer's Association Walk last month. We received scarves for our dogs there and Ziggy proudly wore his scarf on the walk. Donner's neck was too small for him to wear his, but Connie took that scarf home.

Now Connie and her husband Gary had two other dogs given to them recently--Brody and Midnight.  It was doggie chaos when I visited them! Brody kept running away, jumping over the fence in their back yard and the last time Brody ran away he was wearing an Alzheimer's Association scarf.

With surgery coming up for both Connie and Gary, they knew that they could keep only their original small calm dog Donner--not the two other dogs which caused so much havoc in the home.

Neither Connie nor Gary were currently driving and so I took my friend Connie and Midnight to Huntsville Animal Services. I made the case for their taking Midnight, and incidentally mentioned that there was another dog named Brody who had run away from their property. They were happy to take Midnight, although it made Connie tearful to give him up.

The next day I got an email from an Alzheimer's Association office here in Alabama.

Are you missing a dog named Brody? He was found in South Huntsvile about two weeks ago and taken to Animal Care Cinic. Brody had an incorrect address and incomplete name on chip so they've been unable to connect him with his owner.  He was found with an Alzheimer's Association awareness walk bandanna so hopefully he joined our walk on September 29th and we can help with the reunion. If you know Brody please get in touch with Huntsville Animal Services.

What a coincidence! The two robust dog buddies were there! I let the Alzheimer's Association know that Brody was not my dog, but I did know about him. I drove to Connie and Gary's house and got Brody's paper work. When I brought that paperwork to Huntsville Animal Services, I found out the good news that Brody had been adopted and that most likely Midnight, not yet one years of age, would be also. 

So this is the story of how that Alzheimer's Association walk led to both dogs being adopted. 

Virginia Turns 99 Today

Sunday birthday cake with our church bunch

Some of her friends

We celebrated after church on Sunday at Grandmother's House Restaurant.

The seniors at church got
her a special cushion
for her wheel chair.

 






















She has a great sense of humor. The birthday card I got her says that all our friends are jealous of how we look at our ages; that card opens and you hear music--perfect for her good hearing. She laughs at this.  Together we get along.  I tell her I don't hear well (I have hearing aids) and she doesn't see well. We make one person. We have both buried two husbands and have learned a lot about each other. 

Virginia visited by
Choir Director Bess. 

She sang in the choir for 60 years and when I visit her, we choose a hymn she knows by heart for the weekly Praise and Prayer Meeting held at the residence where she lives.  She used to cook dinner at her home for the Praise and Prayer Meeting. That whole prayer meeting moved to Huntsville Health and Rehab Center when she had to move there! 

She is a proper lady. She regularly gets out with a driver for her car. She goes to a church Bible study and Sunday services. She gets her hair and nails done.  December of 2015 when I first moved to Huntsville, we went to the Living Christmas Tree at First Baptist. She stood for the Hallelujah Chorus pulling herself up with the bench in front of her. 

Through her I have learned to love old hymns and value taking time to pray for one another. We adopted each other.

Happy Birthday, Virginia!

I want to be like you when I am 99. 

* How would the LORD get me to my church's prayer meeting? I broke my two feet and ended up there for three weeks (what my insurance covered).  Now I keep going.