A Happy Holidays Message from Your GDUI Editorial Team!
Penny Reeder
Alt text: A golden retriever wearing a red Santa hat and a guide dog harness sits calmly in front of a lit fireplace, with Christmas stockings, twinkling lights, and wrapped presents in the background.
By: GDUI Member Anthony Corona
Posted with permission. Visit Anthony on Substack:
https://theanthonycorona.substack.com/
Every year when the air shifts and the world starts to smell like pine, cinnamon, and something warm and hopeful, the kennel changes.
That is how Scrappy first noticed it.
Scrappy was new. All paws and curiosity. Ears too big for his head, heart even bigger. He had only just arrived at the training kennel, still figuring
out what his paws were for and why everyone kept saying words like focus and harness and someday.
And then there were the decorations.
Red balls. Green balls. Shiny silver ones that reflected his own nose back at him. Twinkling lights that begged to be chased. Scrappy could not understand
why he was not allowed to play with them. After all, balls were balls. That was simple dog logic.
It was Ginger who stopped him.
Ginger was old. Not old in the sad way. Old in the wise way. The kind of old that settles into your bones and teaches you patience. Ginger had once been
a guide dog too. Years of steady sidewalks, busy intersections, quiet companionship, and fierce devotion. Now retired, Ginger lived at the kennel as a
calm presence. A mentor. A quiet guardian of the new trainees.
Scrappy plopped down beside her, tail thumping.
“Why are the balls forbidden?” Scrappy asked in his puppy way, which was really more of a look and a tilt of the head.
Ginger chuckled, which sounded like a slow wag and a…(
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Sarah Calhoun
This is beautiful and fills my heart with love, it gives a special meaning to Santa Claus.
Thank you Anthony Corona for allowing your wonderful story to be shared on the GDUI website! Thank you to the GDUI publications committee for sharing this wonderful message!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays to you, your family, friends and pups!
Kind regards,
Sarah, retired Lakota and Wren
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