Greetings fellow Oak Lawnians!
I’d like to share a personal story with you — it’s a bittersweet story, but it also makes me very proud. Our family pet is a golden retriever named Sunny and earlier this month he celebrated his 13th birthday. Although he’s healthy and gets around pretty good, our family realizes that our window of time with him is shrinking.
Age aside, it’s comforting to see he still has those active and frisky days when, I’m convinced, he’s taken his puppy pills. If we’re lucky, barring any unforeseen illness, we hope to have another year or two to look at Sunny’s beautiful face, now colored with gray and dashes of his original golden blond fur.
We fell in love and adopted Sunny from the Animal Welfare League, 10305 Southwest Highway in Chicago Ridge. He was just 4 months old and he had a skinny frame, long legs and strawberry blond fur.
I’m a big believer in the healing powers of animals and the impact they have — emotionally, physically and even spiritually — on us humans, and Sunny is no exception. I’m proud to share that our little golden oldie has been a therapy dog his entire life. His journey to become an Animal Assisted Therapy candidate started as soon as we adopted him and, since then, he’s visited patients, their families, medical staff and others.
Sunny started visiting patients as part of the Animal Welfare League’s Animal Assisted Therapy program. He also attended Puppy Kindergarten, Basic Obedience and Advanced Obedience classes through the Oak Lawn Park District. In 2008, when he was 4 years old, he successfully completed his certification test and became a registered therapy dog.
For the next 13 years, Sunny visited elderly long-term residents primarily, as well as rehab patients. Over the years, Sunny (and I) built friendships and relationships with patients, their families and facility staff.
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At times, visits with Sunny were emotional for patients who had unexpectedly relinquished their pets when they went into the facility, but they were so happy to spend time with him. Sadly, for some elderly patients, their children and family were deceased and Sunny and I were their only visitors.
Sunny’s last visit with patients was on New Year’s Day. That was the day he officially retired as a therapy dog. Animal Assisted Therapy is an incredibly rewarding experience and, sometimes, if you’re lucky – you witness a breakthrough with a patient. Those breakthroughs are few and far between, but so worth it when you know your four-legged friend touched someone and helped make a difference in that patient’s day or life.
If you’re interested in learning more about Animal Assisted Therapy, check with your local animal shelters or contact me at my e-mail address.
Here’s our celebrity announcements: Jackson Patterson’s family wish him a happy 7th birthday. Happy 11th birthday to Neo Martin from his parents and family. Happy 15th birthday to Abigail Harris, from her parents, and Paul, Emily, Kate, Hanna and Charlie. Happy 16th birthday to Anthony McFee, from his great aunt, Antoinette Cataldo. Happy 16th birthday to Zach Zobak, from his parents, Tom and Karen, and brother, Max. Danny Smith’s grandma and grandpa Wills wish him a happy 17th birthday. Happy birthday to Nolan Peterson who’s turning 23, from his family, Lauren and Ella Peterson. Rita and Ken Bringe wish their daughter, Katie, a happy 23rd birthday; their son, Kenji, who’s turning 27; and Tohru Kobayashi who’s turning 32. Birthday wishes also go out to Rita Bringe. Happy birthday to Kerry McInerney, who’s turning 27, from his family, Abby and Lizzy McInerney. Happy birthday to Jennifer Lopez from her parents, Lisa and Jose, Monica and Bo Lopez. Birthday wishes go out to Terry Simon from Jim, Wendy and Cubbie Simon. Happy birthday to Amanda Olszewski, from Chris, Lola, AJ and their families. Happy birthday to Kathy Gornik, from her family. Wedding anniversary wishes go out to Russel and Clare Markle on their 72nd anniversary.
Until next time…
Cheryl Petzel is a freelance columnist.