Another Loss - Nacho

Sweet Nacho, the very first guide dog I ever met, died yesterday. Kathy and her family are devastated. 

I was cleaning the garage with Ian, Lukie, and Lisa when Kathy called and asked if I could come over and stay with Tate. "Nacho needs to be euthanized this afternoon. Can you stay with Tate while I go with Nacho to the vet?"

You bet I could - that's the kind of call where you drop everything and go. 

Nacho is the most brilliant dog I have ever known. I have watched him in harness so many times, guiding Kathy around challenging obstacles, ones that would be difficult even for sighted people.

He loved to play with his stuffies when out of harness, and always, always greeted me at the door with one hanging out the side of his mouth. (Which, of course, he teased me with and would not let me have.)

He and Pepper were friends and Kathy and I enjoyed getting them together for play dates. 

I drove Kathy to many speaking engagements, and I always loved how Nacho would wait while she spoke.

Inevitably he would lean on her leg, slide down it, and then stay like that until she finished her presentation.

Kathy, Nacho, and me driving to one of her speaking engagements.

A real honor for them both was when Kathy was awarded Dolly Parton's Chasing Rainbows Award in 2016. 

Dolly had a surprise in store for them - she also recognized Nacho. 

Dolly presented Nacho with a pink and purple rhinestone collar to honor him for his role in helping Kathy in her work.

Such a nice gesture from Dolly, and one that meant a lot to Kathy.

Kathy and I got Nacho and Pepper together often.

Our neighborhood park has a walking path through it, and Kathy and Nacho could easily get there and meet Pepper and me for some time together down by the lake.

The four of us together in the park's pavilion.

It was in Spring, 2022, that Nacho began to show signs that guiding was getting difficult for him. Kathy made the tough decision that it was time for him to retire.

Because she and Nacho had visited numerous schools and other venues across the state, they were very well known, and the Tippecanoe School Corporation where Kathy taught threw a huge retirement party for Nacho. Pepper was invited as a special guest!

Me, Pepper, Kathy, Nacho, and Lisa at Nacho's retirement bash. His retirement even made the news - reporters were there filming the celebration and interviewing Kathy about him.

Nacho went to live with her parents whose home is just two blocks from Kathy's home. He already knew them well. Her parents loved him deeply and took wonderful care of Nacho. Kathy visited near daily, and Nacho transitioned well to being retired.

Nacho's health had begun declining at the end of last year. This morning it was very obvious that Nacho was ready to go and so the family went with him to the vet while I went to their home and stayed with Tate.

He's a stuffie guy just like his buddy Nacho.

A few hours later, Kathy announced Nacho's passing on her Facebook page.

Rest in peace, sweet Nacho. You were the bestest, goodest, sweetest boy.

My heart hurts at your loss. Rest in peace, buddy.

It's the Size of the Heart, Not the Body

Special Note: Don't miss the Breyer Second Chance sale today at 1:00 Eastern Time! It's for those who had VIP, All-Access, and Online tickets to this year's BreyerFest.

Ticket holders can purchase up to two Special Runs along with special, BreyerFest only, tee shirts, a mug, and other things.

I am looking for the crystal, Fortitude, so you can bet I have got my alarm set.

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There are three Guide Dogs, all Labrador Retrievers, in this photo (and one something-doodle. Look closely.) All three who are trained to do the same thing, all who performed well and made differences in their partners' lives. And all very different size-wise. 

Pepper is quite petite for a Lab and is on the couch next to Marianne. Nacho is the yellow Lab on the bottom right. He is retired and lives with Marianne and Bill, Kathy's parents. Nacho is a medium sized Lab.

By Marianne's feet is Tate, Kathy's current Guide. And he is absolutely enormous.

Just look at that massive head!

Pepper and Tate nose to nose.

Kathy and Tate when they were first paired together.

Kathy and Nacho when he was her guide. He is brilliant and to watch him in action was, at times, jaw dropping. There were times Kathy had no idea what challenge he had guided her around or through until someone who had seen it happen told her.

Kathy, Nacho, and I being interviewed by Korean radio station eBUSAN-FM. Culturally, blind people and others with disabilities are not considered as someone who can contribute much to Korean society. 

Interested in exploring that and maybe even changing that perception, the radio station was doing a series investigating how other cultures treated their disabled. They had flown two reporters to the USA to interview Kathy about being a teacher who was blind. I was invited to offer my perspective as her colleague.

Nacho, of course, did his usual exceptional job of getting Kathy there for the interview. He made a striking impression on the interviewers as to what a Guide could and would do in facilitating a blind person's abilities and empowering them for the work force.

Originally this blog post was going to be a humorous look at the size difference between the three dogs. But as I wrote, I was struck again at how much these three dogs, regardless of their physical size, have contributed - both to the person they were partnered with and to those that their partner impacted in turn.

In Kathy's case, it was hundreds of high school students early in her career, and then later it has been as she oversees, instructs, and mentors 75 - 100 new teachers annually. Both Nacho and Tate facilitated that along with Elias and several other Guides before them.

Kathy and Elias at the White House after meeting with President Obama (and Bo, who shared his water bowl with Elias.)

For Pepper, she enabled Sarah to get her doctorate in divinity and become a minister, then guided her as she ministered to her congregation at her church. 

Pepper meeting Sarah's mother, Cindy for the first time. 

More than once Pepper has gotten all "guide-doggy" with me. "The smoke alarm is ringing; get out of the house!" "There is a car coming and you are too slow to beat it across the street so I am going to stand in front of you so you can't move forward. There, it's passed by us. You may cross the street, Lynn."

Clearly, the size of the Guide doesn't matter - it's the heart they have and how much they love and want to protect their partner from harm.

Guide dogs' hearts are huge. They make a difference in many, many ways. How lucky our society is to have them out and about, making life better. And not just for their partner, but for us all.

As Kathy once said, "Two (feet) + Four (paws) = 1 (heart.)

How right she was.

The Give Away Winner & a Little More

I want to start with an apology - I left a very big Brighty spot off yesterday and I was pretty smack-the-forehead chagrined when I realized it. So, to rectify that, a huge thank you to those of you who contacted me to wish me well or prayed or sent good thoughts my way. That was very much appreciated, and truly, a Brighty spot in my life.

I spun for the February Give Away winner this morning.

Congratulations to the winner and if you didn't win, there are ten more Give Aways coming up to enter!

I sometimes have little things that aren't enough for a complete blog post, but knit together nicely for one. Here are a couple of things I thought you might enjoy.

~ Often we share about finding HSOs (horse shaped objects) in the wild, but yesterday I found a Breyer collector in the wild!

I had gone shopping for candy and cards to send to my kids and their families for Valentine's Day, and the woman checking me out commented, "I like your jacket."

I was wearing a BreyerFest jacket at the time. (Photo by Breyer) Then she continued.

"I collect Breyers and I also enjoy customizing." I think my jaw had dropped at this point and I was wondering, "Why have we not met before?"

We chatted model horses until another customer needed to check out, but I got her name (Shelby) and plan to go back with some hobby information for her. She is not (yet) connected to the hobby on social media nor has she ever been to BreyerFest. 

I went home and spent a good chunk of time packing those cards and Valentine's Day things I was sending to my family. All those boxes are going out today along with the book to our Give Away winner (on top of the stack.)

~ I've mentioned before that Hawkeye Sarah is a wildlife photographer. Here's a recent video that she took from her truck as she drove through a bison preserve.

My guess is that the cow has learned that there is salt on vehicles in the winter. I'm not sure I'd be as calm as Sarah as the bison licked away - I'd be hoping against hope that she did not use those horns on my car!

~Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch Nacho, my friend Kathy's guide dog who is now retired and living with her parents. I love Nacho. When he was guiding, he was in my classroom many times as Kathy and I did a lot of co-teaching together.

I was privileged to watch him guide many, many times and he is incredible at any and all challenges.

He is happy in retirement, but he's slowing down some and his face is getting whiter. (He probably looked at me and thought the same thing.)

 

This is the dog who guided Kathy to 275 speaking engagements (in just one year!) all over the United States when she was named the 2015 Indiana Teacher of the Year and then as one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year. He can (and has) handle New York City, Chicago, LA, and our biggest cities, travel on planes and subways, and keep her safe while he does it. 

When Kathy met Dolly Parton and received her Chasing Rainbows award, Dolly also honored Nacho for his service with a rhinestone collar.

Dolly Parton gives Nacho his rhinestone collar starting around 7:00. (I know I've shared this several times before but I also happen to be a Dolly Parton fan, too!)

Nacho is the best of the best when it comes to guide dogs, and it will always be a pleasure to spend time with him like I did yesterday. But for the first time ever, I felt the passing of time for him and that made me a bit teary. (For more on Nacho, just do a search - I've written about him many times.)

Speaking of dogs, Nashie and Molly are spending today with us. That always livens the house up for us! I never get as much done as I normally do (and Pepper never gets as much sleep, haha!) but it's going to be a good day.

I hope yours is, too.

Retirement & New Beginnings

My friend Kathy had to retire her guide, Nacho, this spring after six years of faithful guiding and leading. This was a big deal in our community. 

Since Kathy is the administrator of the school corporation's mentor program for new teachers, she and Nacho are in every school building (all twenty of them!) throughout the year. As a result, Nacho is well known and quite beloved by students, teachers, and staff alike. Several teachers put their heads together and decided to hold a retirement party for Nacho. 

Pepper was invited to come, and so Teacher Daughter Lisa, Pepper, and I joined the throngs to thank him for his service and have our picture taken with him.

There was a yummy cake for the adults 

and one just for Nacho, both baked by the head chef of the high school culinary school.

Kathy and Nacho do a lot of public speaking outside of school and around the community, and so his retirement even made the news.

As you might imagine, Nacho's retirement was very bittersweet for Kathy. Their lives were so interwoven, she even wrote an insightful book called Two Plus Four Equals One about her relationship with her guides. But it was time, and so Nacho is now living with Kathy's parents. (Kathy's parents live a few blocks from her so she sees her beloved boy often.)

Meet Tate, Kathy's new guide. A big, strapping two year old black Lab, Guiding Eyes for the Blind matched the two in April and she traveled out to New York for several weeks of training with Tate. (The matching process is lengthy and detailed, but Guiding Eyes for the Blind works hard to match the personalities and needs of both partners.) 

Look at those jowls!! Kathy and Tate meet for the first time.

He is a massive boy. 

Kathy and Tate learning to work together in New York City.

After a week of letting Tate settle into his new home and routine, Kathy texted and invited me to come over and meet him. She asked that I bring Pepper, too.

Both black Labs, but look at the size difference. 

They got along well, but I think Pepper was a little intimidated by him. 

Meanwhile, Nacho is thoroughly enjoying his retirement. I see him frequently when he is out walking with one of Kathy's parents, and he's even been over for a play date with Pepper.

Tate, Nacho, and Pepper are getting together tomorrow for a field trip with Kathy. She is taking the dogs (and her mom and me) out to a local school to read with a group of second graders.

That is something Pepper is familiar with and enjoys. Last week she went into Teacher Daughter Lisa's classroom and was read to by her students.

As you can tell, Pepper enjoys that!

It's the end of the school year and graduations and other retirements are happening. But there are also new beginnings, and Kathy and Tate's partnership is just that.

I look forward to seeing this partnership grow and thrive.

The Story of Dogs I have Loved: Nacho

Today's blog post is another installment in the series, Dogs I have Loved. This one isn't my dog, but I spend time with him and love him, too. 

After over seven years of serving faithfully  as a seeing eye guide dog, Nacho is retiring.

He's getting older and slowing down, and Kathy is mindful of his needs (not her needs; she'd keep him as her partner forever if she could.) She is getting a new guide next month from Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

I've been lucky enough to travel with them to a few of their speaking engagements and know Nacho well.

When I drive them, they sit in the back and Nacho often stretches over the seat and sneaks in a lick or two on my cheek as he settles in.

Truth be told, I get a lot of kisses from Nacho.

He has worked hard and faithfully guided Kathy all over the country.

He was with her when she won Dolly Parton's Chasing Rainbows award (and Dolly gave him a pink rhinestone collar made just for him!) Go to 3:35 to see Kathy receive her award.

But Kathy knows her boy well and feels he has done enough. He will still be close to her - he will be living with her parents and they live in the same neighborhood as Kathy and me.

It was because of Kathy's recommendation that Craig and I were selected to be Pepper's retirement home when her own guiding career ended. Now the two of them will have a lot more play dates.

I have a soft spot in my heart for dogs, even more so for those who become service dogs like Nacho and Pepper. And Nacho truly was a cut above the rest; he was an exceptional guide and partner for Kathy. 

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

- Matthew 25:21