January 27, 2011 - December 3, 2022
Gardenia was my first guide dog. She guided me through life and made my safety her first priority, no matter where we went. And Gardenia taught me how to live life as a diva! She was a “Diva Dog!”
I was always pretty independent, even though I had experienced low vision all of my life. Of course, I had some adjusting to do when I lost all of my remaining vision in 2011, but I managed everything pretty well, I thought. Then I got Gardenia in 2012, and my life changed completely!
We found ourselves flying first or business class! Flight attendants explained that the diva needed enough room to stretch out! We were checking into hotel suites – staff explained that Gardenia needed sufficient space to play!
Gardenia was the Flower Dog in my friend’s wedding. She looked beautiful walking down the aisle with a gorgeous bouquet on each side of her harness.
Shopping was a breeze with Gardenia. She could identify 47 different items in the grocery store. Of course, we had to choose only the check-out lines that would lead us to her favorite cashiers!
We both loved our trips to Alaska, kayaking down the Colorado River, hiking the Grand Canyon, and ambling through her favorite Shenandoah National Park. No, she didn’t actually go skydiving with me. Instead, she was waiting patiently on the ground for our enthusiastic reunion.
Cruising the Caribbean and swimming out to a reef together was so much fun for both of us. Kicking up clouds of sand was her favorite activity on any beach trip.
Every year, we visited our Congressional representatives during the ACB Leadership Conference. She remembered where every representative’s office was, and, every year, we made a beeline to Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s office. Gardenia never forgot how she caught a mouse under the Congressman’s couch that first year we went to legislative seminar! (Neither did Chris’s office staff!)
Gardenia kept me safe when riding the Metro and crossing so many busy streets throughout the D.C. area.
I have no idea why, but Gardenia loved our paratransit system! Once, when we were walking down a sidewalk in D.C. and I was wondering how long we would have to wait for an already overdue MetroAccess ride, Gardenia stopped beside a MetroAccess van parked on the street and insisted that we board it. After some friendly back and forth with the driver (who had been just killing time) and MetroAccess dispatch, the driver enthusiastically agreed to drive us back home to Gaithersburg.
Sharing life with Gardenia for 10 years, 1 month and 15 days expanded my outlook in every way. She taught me to expect first-class treatment from anybody we happened to meet. We made friends all over the country and even down in the Caribbean. She taught me that I can be safe wherever I want to go with a harness in my hand, and I truly believe that she waited to know that my new guide, Goodman, was already set to be on the other end of that harness before she consented to leave me, to find her own new adventures on the so-called Other Side.
Goodbye my Diva Dog, sweet Gardenia. You are still my guardian angel.