Finding Harmony by Sally Hyder

Author:Sally Hyder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter 12

Love at Second Sight

In retrospect, perhaps we shouldn’t have tried to fit it all in a single day: meeting the dogs, learning about Canine Partners, them learning about me. When I got on the plane, I was aching from head to toe but of course, I couldn’t sleep: I was buzzing with excitement. It was like the first flush of love when you can’t stop giggling but you’re racked with anxiety, all at the same time. I shut my eyes and revisited the experience: the smells of the dogs, the fresh air, the beauty of the countryside and the slow dawning realisation that this was to be my new adventure.

Was it going to work out?

We got home after dark and went straight to bed. In the morning, with Andrew off to work I talked to Melissa about our day over the snap, crackle and pop of her Rice Krispies. She thought we had been to a meeting (in some ways, it is a benefit of her disability that she doesn’t ask too many questions). Then she was off to school and didn’t seem to think any more about it. Keeping our plans for a dog a secret from her was so difficult.

But the older kids knew where I was going: I had kept the leaflets well hidden but I couldn’t resist telling them all about it. Although they didn’t quite grasp the assistance bit, they were hugely excited about the prospect of getting a dog; they had also taken on board the ‘hands off’ approach – a difficult one to instil when you have a family.

Meanwhile, I kept reading the first leaflet I had been sent and the stories of disabled people who have Canine Partners. Gazing at their photos, I wondered if I would be like them one day. The leaflet had become a lucky charm. In retrospect, I’d already sensed the dark clouds lifting, as if the very thought of another adventure for Andrew and me was beginning to work its magic.

Two weeks later I had a call from Canine Partners to say that they wanted to do a home visit to make sure ours was suitable. In the first week of December 2008, partnership coordinator Wendy and Adele (PA to Andy Cook, the chief executive) travelled up from Heyshott to look round and meet the family.

As I have already mentioned, our house is detached. From the kitchen, French doors open directly out onto wooden decking, from which a series of ramps access the garden. Taking Adele and Wendy for a tour, Andrew explained we would organise the toilet area to the left of the ramp, not too far away from the house, which would make it more pleasant if the weather was bad; it would also be well away from the garden shed, where the foxes live. They asked us to install gates on either side of the house to block the two points of access from front to back. Ironically, my final comment was that a blonde dog wouldn’t be good because I’ve got purple carpets.

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