Skip to main content

Touched by an Angel

Caring Canine Cora


Cora had a full day today at Mayo Hospital Speciality Building.  So many friends it was hard to decide which direction to take, so I let her decide.  But one by one she took on the entire room of our friends waiting for treatment with a tail that never stopped wagging and eyes and ears waiting for the next person to happily call her to their side.  We celebrated a "bell ringing" today to mark the last day of treatment for a special friend.  At the check in desk a small piece of paper was wrapped around 2 dog biscuits with Cora's name from an admirer.  We met again with an ex military young man that dubbed Cora as a "morale booster".  Visiting with our "special hat Lady" certainly boosted both her and our spirits as she prompted Cora into a "bottoms up"!  We had 2 special requests  today as we were ready to leave.  One of our friends was now an inpatient and was missing his dog at home.  Could we wait until after his treatment and spend a few minutes with him, "Certainly, we can"!  Cora walked over to his wheelchair and sat beside him.  Petting her, he began to tell me that his dog Scooter was the same color as Cora.  He thanked us and we began to leave, but were stopped by another staff member asking for a few more minutes of Cora's time with a patient.  So many encounters, so many stories, all the same outcome.  Touched by an angel, "a therapy dog"!  God made some of his angels with paws instead of wings!
Cora outside of Mayo Hospital



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Team Work!

Cora and I had a busy 2 days at Mayo this week.  It's always brings a smile to my face when I see the positive reception that is given to us by the patients and their families.  Today brought not only that big smile, but also, filled my heart with pride.  A gentleman that was waiting for his radiation treatment had several questions about therapy dogs and how they functioned in the medical setting.  After several minutes of telling him about the training involved and how we volunteer our time with the dogs, he looked down at Cora who was stretched out across his feet and said, "You are heroes, to be sharing in our moment of weakness"!   Wow, I never would have imagined anyone calling us a hero.  Looking up the true definition, it states, "a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act".   Strange thing is that I look at these patients and draw strength from them.  They stare cancer in the face, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Horizons

  Cora really never stops spreading that "magic" that comes when a person needs that little bit of special healing.  We've been busy for the past few months settling in our new home in Florida.  While in New Jersey visiting with Pop Pop, we met a wonderful young man that didn't allow his disability to interfere with him getting a hand and even a foot on Cora.  The interaction between the two of them was priceless.  It reminded me that we have to find our "spot" here in Florida to continue "heeling to heal" asap!  We'll let you know soon.
Post a Comment
Read more

New Horizons!

Cora and I spent our last day volunteering at Mayo in June.  We will miss our friends, but our journey will continue bringing smiles and comfort in Florida.  I've been searching for our "niche" here and we will soon be back working as a therapy dog team.  During the move I completed my Evaluator status with Pet Partners and am now studying for my Instructor license.  Hope to have all that done in about 6 weeks.  That way I can teach people how they can join this special force of animal healers!  More to come soon!
Post a Comment
Read more