Frankie relaxing with one of our favorite residents.  I believe Sally is almost 99 years old now.

Today was my scheduled therapy dog visit with Frankie to Libby’s House, Senior Assisted Facility.  They have three separate houses we visit.  Usually by the third house Frankie is pretty tired. Our round of visits usually last a good hour and a half.  As we got to the third house today the receptionist said, “Did you hear what one of the residents wrote about Frankie?”

Well a few weeks ago they had a poet from New York visit their facility.  The poet worked with the residents, many of which have Alzheimer’s or Dementia, and had them write a poem called “Cats and Dogs.” The idea was to help recall some memories for them of pets they had in their life or pets they knew.  What a wonderful idea, I thought.  Well, they made a copy of the poem for me, because when they told me what  the one line said that one of the residents wrote, I was so touched. And it was one of the first lines in the poem!  So here in the poem in its entirety.  I hope it makes you feel as good as it made me feel. And as I told the receptionist and some of the staff, “Money cannot buy this. This is what it is all about.”  FYI:  They didn’t tell me the name of the resident who wrote the poem, but when I read it I knew exactly who it was as this resident often talks to me about a dog they had named Misty.  Also this particular resident is 100 years old.

CATS AND DOGS

Yes, I do like dogs.

I like the little wiener dog with the trailer that comes to Libby’s House to visit.

I was peeling potatoes once and a cat ran up my back.

I don’t know what scared that cat but something did.

We lived on a farm and had a Shepherd dog.

That dog was so gentle with the cats and all.

He shared his milk with the cats.

Good farm dog.

That was many years ago.

I had a Basset Hound. I had a Labrador.

Goldie Fella was my Basset Hound’s name.

I get along with cats but I like dogs better.

I think a dog is better than a cat.

I never had a dog as a child.

I had a male and female Collie. Penny and Lady were their names.

I played midwife with the dogs.

My neighbors had cats and I played with them all the time.

A fox came through the neighbor’s yard and chased the cat.

I can’t remember if I ever saw that cat again.

I had a dog. It was a very special dog.

I would tell her to get her leash and she would run and get it. We would take a walk.

When I would get the mail, I would tell her to “stay right there and don’t move.”

She always listened.

My dog’s name is Misty. She had a chair by the window.

I would tell her it was time to exchange chairs with me.

She would jump down and we would switch chairs.

She only did her duty in the tall grass in the backyard.

I’d let her out and she would always run to the tall grass.

I miss that dog.

We had all kins of dogs on the farm. The were outside dogs.

Someone gave me a dog. My mom liked it so we kept it.

I like cats better.

My kids liked them too.

Michael has four cats.

There’s a lot to clean up in the spring after the snow thaws, you know.

The bigger the dog, the bigger the stuff.