Abby
Andrea and Abby
Abby's life was no accident. Abby's role is to learn to become a Seeing Eye. The only problem is Abby has become much more than a puppy in training. Since the time Abby came to our home, Abby has been to so many places to learn socialization skills. This past summer, I finally decided to begin bringing Abby to my graduate classes everyday. It was at this point, that I realized the power of a puppy to college students who are far away from home or even the commuters who just needed to feel some comfort throughout the day. For Abby, this became the place where she would comfort students who needed it the most. One student in particular had just lost her daughter to a motorcycle accident and was struggling each day to come to class. As the student entered the class each day, her heavy heart was felt by Abby who would greet her and sit by her during class. The student would pet her as she soaked up the information from class. Abby has touched many students on our campus and will be sadly missed by all. Students e-mail me and talk to me about the importance of how Abby has touched their lives in a place where they didn't think they would find comfort. As a request from many students, I have posted pictures of Abby on my office door to remind them of the wonderful puppy that has touched so many lives. Additionally, Abby has her photo in a Bible of a woman who has terminal cancer so that when she is feeling bad on certain days, she can pull her photo out and look at her. Abby does visit her at the nursing home but this too will soon end as Abby is about to be returned to the Seeing Eye in Morristown NJ for her final training so that she can provide her blind human the eyes to navigate through life.