Graduation

It is official. We are finished! I am writing from a hotel room in the middle of nowhere. Trishna is chewing on a bone; Heather and I are together; all is right with the world.

On to more important things---Graduation!

Twelve people graduated today with their new Guide Dogs. Morning started out very slow, with a dormitory meeting and description of what was going to happen at graduation. Then I was off.

First, I took Trishna to the fenced enclosure to run off some of her energy. Because here's the thing you need to know about my golden girl. If she doesn't work or get exercise, she gets a little crazy: really hyper and mischievous or destructive in the room. Yes, she is still a dog, not a saint. And as we did not have a workout in the afternoon the day before, I knew her energy had been building all night, and I didn't want her to be a crazy mess during the ceremony.

After her exercise, it was back to the room to finish packing and then off for one last trip to the gift shop to purchase the items that I just couldn't live without. Then, we had an early lunch and a quick change of clothes, and all of a sudden, Trishna's puppy raisers were at my door. They are a very nice family from the San Joaquin Valley; they've raised 16 puppies for Guide Dogs, and the mom is a puppy group leader. They brought me a photo album of some of Trishna's puppy pictures, which I thought was very sweet. She was quite the ball of fuzz.

After about an hour of visiting, they took Trishna, and I was escorted the stage. Each of us graduates was given an opportunity to speak in turn, and then we were presented with our dogs by the puppy raiser. And then each puppy raiser said a few words. All in all, a nice day. Good weather, nobody spoke too long, and people seemed to really enjoy themselves. This is the time where it really sinks in that this is really my dog, and we get to spend probably the next decade or so together. I couldn't be luckier.

I want to thank everyone who came to my graduation today. I had quite the crew; eight people decided to come and sit in the hot sun to support us.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading. This experience has been life-changing for me, and it's touching to know that so many of you were experiencing it along with me. I'm going to do two bonus posts, one tomorrow when we actually make it home with some tips on how to support a new Guide Dog team and one after our first day of work together. I've really appreciated all of your support and kind words. I really do believe that I have the best dog for me, and I have to say, as many of you know, I loved Stacey-dog with all of my heart, and she was also the best dog for me. But Trishna is probably the best dog I could've had for me at this point in my life. And sometimes, when I look at her, I sense a little spark of Stacey that has been sent back to me. So, here's to our safe travels for tomorrow and the days to come.