This is a letter from a close friend that helped me throught a very tough time in my life. She is one of few that I can talk to about my blindness. Her guide dog passed away. This is a sad story but a happy day. Tammy (the dog) is in a happier place. This is the email I was sent. I know this sounds worried but please pray for the family of Tammy. I got the chance to meet Tammy a few years age and feel in love with her. Guide Dogs are a very important part to BLIND community. Someday I might need one. God only knows. May GOD bless you all with this email.....
Born at Southeastern Guide Dogs on September 14, 1994, Tammy came into our lives on February 20, 1996 and died on November 24, 2007. The youngest in her class, she remained my guide dog until March, 2007 when bone cancer retired her. Through her more than eleven years of service, she enjoyed greeting everyone in the English Department at
In her leisure time, she enjoyed endless swimming escapades with her dear doggie friend Frances and all their squeaky toys, hikes with her Daddy and Uncle Jim, and walks on the Oregon Coast with sandy little nephews whom she’d tuck in at night with a bedtime story.
Many thanks are needed to acknowledge all the loving hearts that made Tammy such a fabulous creature. There was the Vanstone family who puppy raised her; her Southeastern Guide dogs trainer Lynn who fashioned her into a working guide; Jorge who taught her to swim and who tossed squeakies into the lake for endless retrievals; Becky and Kathy who helped with her late-stage care; Colleen who carried her home when she couldn’t walk and who cleaned up after her when her systems failed; and Mark and Bernie who prepared her burial spot and provided us with comfort.
A very special thanks to her Daddy who devoted himself totally to her final care while I trained with her successor dog Sparky. For weeks, Al spent countless hours looking after her, feeding her by hand, medicating her, taking her to the park, patiently walking with her every day she could muster the strength to do so, carrying her up and down the stairs, and cleaning up after her; neither one ever complained. He kept her alive until I could return from training.
To honor her memory, Al and I will participate in the Southeastern Guide Dog Walkathon in Palmetto, Florida on March 1, 2008 to raise funds for her school and thus sponsor a puppy we can name in her memory It’s the very least we can do to honor someone who guided us all to a higher level of companionship, devotion, and love.
Farewell, dear Tammy; your service here has ended. May we never forget all the lessons you taught us.
WE WILL ALL MISS YOU TAMMY... FROM THE MURPHY'S
On a side note from me (AMY):
My health has been quite a challage in the last few weeks. Thank you for your prayers. I go to the doctor to day @ 3:30.
I hope we get some answers.
May GOD bless you and keep you all too.
1 comment:
i want to thank you again Ames for you & seans friendship to me.. esp. on sunday.. that meant a lot to me to be able to girl talk with you before we sat down to eat. thank you too for the prayers you've been sending up. i've been saying my prayers for you as well as sean and you. :) i love ya very much PGQ aka Mrs.PGQ Murphy xoxo
ps: thank you also again for the wonderful gifts.. i love them!!
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