Christmas Day at the Rehab

My mom, almost 91, with Maxie & Willow

Greetings from sunny Cape Coral, Florida.  Temp 80 degrees.  John, Maxie, Willow and I drove 900 miles to bring a little Christmas cheer to the rehab where my 96 year old Dad is recouperating from a broken hip, and in failing health, and to my Mom who is trying to figure out how to manage him when (if) he comes home.  We'll be here through New Years Eve, staying some with Mom at her condo, and some near the rehab at LaQuinta Inn Ft. Myers, where I have a wi-fi connection and can blog about this unusual experience.  We left Lucky and FoohFooh at home with our good friends, Laura and Portia, who are house-sitting.

Christmas Day we came for lunch, decked out in our Santa hats and ready to put on a dog show.  We managed to lift a few spirits, if only for a few minutes.

Of course Max and Willow always attract attention when they prance side by side, fur afluttering, down the halls of any facility.  Everyone stops to look, some reach out and want us to stop and talk about "the twins".  And trust me, NOBODY showed a preference for Willow's gorgeous conformation quality straight coat and symmetrical blaze to Maxie's "disqualifying" curls and assymetrical blaze, nor noticed Maxie's "professional grooming" to Willow's lack thereof.  In fact, I'll go ahead and declare that eye contact, friendly personality and obedience will trump conformation and professional grooming any day of the week.

John took videos of our "dog show", which I've edited together below. It's very telling.  Even the lady who seemed comatose responded, but mostly my Mom, who went around chuckling, telling people they were her "grand-dogs", Dad requesting special tricks, and Mom going "I can't believe that!" when they did something especially obedient or cute. We got quite a few laughs out of Mom and a few out of Dad.

Here's the video:

Not pictured was the nursing station where numerous staff was looking on and being entertained as well.

Watching my doggies put smiles on a few faces made our Christmas merry in spite of being so far from home!  Laughter is good medicine. 

Dad, especially, wasn't in the Christmas spirit at all when we arrived, but by the time we left he was willing to pose with Mom in our santa hats.  Some photos included the dogs, but this one is the best of them.

Oh, I must report: On the way into the rehab we saw two men sitting on the patio with a male version of Lucky Lucy on leash.  The owner was in rehab, his friend brought his dog for a visit. When I said "I like your Blackmouth Cur", they were shocked! "You know what this is?" "Yes, I have one just like him at home". So we talked for 10 minutes, and their dog was just as gentle, friendly and schluppy as Lucky is. They reported this dog kills possums and raccoons -- the way Lucky dispatches armadillos. He snaps at flies, too. Dogs are great ice-breakers, aren't they? Without the dog there, I would have passed right by.

Upwards and onward!