9/11 - 10 years? Wow..

I still need to write part two of my last blog, but I thought this topic deserved a blog entry. On Sunday we will observe the 10^th anniversary of the September 11 events. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking, “How could it already be 10 years?” It is one of those days and time periods that I will never forget. I’m sure I’ll still be able to tell my future children very specific details when they are old enough to understand.

I thought I’d share some of my memories of that day. I always find it interesting to hear other people’s memories of 9/11. What were they thinking, what did they notice, and what will they never forget? I was a junior in high school on September 11, 2001. I can tell you exactly what I was wearing; a navy blue Strawberry Shortcake hoodie and jeans – it was always cold in our school. I had just left my 1^st period art class and was on my way to my 2^nd period science class. During passing period the office came over the loud speaker, all I could make out due to the noise in the hallways was, “a plane has it the trade center.” I was super confused…why would they be coming over the loud speaker during passing period to tell us about a plane hitting something? I thought for sure it must be local or why would they tell us in that manner. I got to the locker I shared with my friend, Maria, she wasn’t there, but the girl that had the locker next to us was and I said, “Where did that plane hit? Indianapolis?” She looked at me with total disgust and said, “No, the World Trade Center is in New York City.” Yikes – sorry! I couldn’t fully hear the message and I couldn’t wrap my brain around why they would come over the loud speaker to tell us about something in New York; that just didn’t make sense to me. They’d never informed of us any big news in that way.

So, confused and annoyed that the girl I had asked was so short with me I went on to 2^nd period, Mr. Davis’ class. When I walked in the room he already had the TV on to one of the major new channels. I still was not sure what had happened/what was happening. There were a few people in the room and they were all glued to the TV, so I sat down and literally right as I looked up to the TV I saw the second plane hit. I remember everyone gasping at once. My mind was racing, I remember thinking, “What is happening?! Why is this happening?!” I don’t remember if I got more details from the TV or people around me, but when I started putting together that this was not an accident and that we were being attacked one constant thought kept echoing in my head: “This is it, the world is over.” Yes, NYC and Washington are far from Indiana, but this kind of thing didn’t happen to America and I never thought it would. I don’t remember freaking out, I remember staying quiet for the most part and listening to the news and others around me. Right after I saw the second plane hit I heard a plane over the school. I remember holding my breath and thinking this is it…they are coming for us too. Now, why would terrorists target a high school in rural Indiana? But, then again, why do they do anything they do? I don’t know, I just thought we were under total attack. Thankfully we weren’t.

The rest of the day was kind of a blur of going from class to class and all we did was watch the news. I remember some parents coming to get their kids out of school. My dad was at work and my mom was actually out of town in Cleveland. This worried me; I didn’t like her being far from home with all this going on. She wanted to come home, but couldn’t right away, the highways were gridlocked and flying wasn’t an option. Looking back I’m kind of surprised I didn’t panic. I think I was just so scared, sad and confused that I couldn’t panic. It was a feeling I’ll never forget and hope I never feel again. Once school ended I remember calling my dad. I don’t remember our conversation, but I know we both asked if the other was ok and I asked if he’d spoken to my mom, he had and she was fine. From there I know what happened, but can’t remember the exact order. After school I went two places before I went home: my friend Candice’s house and a gas station. I don’t know which place I went first or who told me to go to the gas station and fill up, it was either my dad or Candice’s mom. I also remember watching the news some at Candice’s house and talking to her mom. At some point I did go to a gas station. It was chaos and like nothing I’d ever seen. I got in the very long line…most people were just standing outside their car waiting. I was finally able to get gas. The panic for gas was probably because prices would go up and would gas be readily available anymore? At least that was my thinking because remember I thought it was the beginning of the end. When I got home I don’t remember much other than my youngest sister being very scared and extremely worried that my mom wasn’t home, she was 11 years old at the time.

Everything else all runs together from that day and those following. I remember my mom getting home a few days later and being VERY relieved to see her. I remember feeling a lot of emotions and swearing I’d never get on a plane again (well, I have many times since). To be honest after that day my day to day life didn’t really change. I guess the biggest thing for me is that I always get a little nervous on flights or at large gatherings of people, like the Indy 500. I remember the first 500 I went to after 9/11 I was really nervous thinking this would be an ideal target. That thought still crosses my mind…even at something like a Colts game, but it’s just for a second. I was one of the lucky, unlike those poor people on the planes & in the buildings and their families. I can’t even begin to imagine what they went through, felt & deal with today. The next time I remember 9/11 hitting me was that first Christmas. I watched the lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Center on TV. They had the tree lit in all red, white & blue lights. Out of nowhere I started crying really hard…it was a mix of sadness and being proud of our country. Today I am still saddened and still proud and the 10^th anniversary reminds me of that.

To wrap this up I wanted to tie it to dogs, because after all this is a dog related blog. Many dogs and their handlers were heroes on that day and the days following just like the brave first responders. Search and rescue dogs are amazing and deserve a lot of credit as do the people that train and work with them. Although I don’t know of an exact case I can promise you that dogs out there were used in different forms of therapy to help victims and first responders. I can also say with 100% confidence that dogs around the country were there for all of us if we needed a shoulder to cry on or just sit with quietly. They knew something was wrong and that we were all hurting, they felt it too. I watched the end of Titanic the other day and got tears in my eyes and Georgia knew I was upset and was right next to me, so without a doubt she would have felt my emotions and been there for me on September 11^th if she’d been around. So, on September 11^th and any day for that matter, hug your dogs, hug your people and be thankful you are here and proud of our country and its heroes…humane and canine!

Lesson 10 - Last one, but not the end!

I’m writing this blog feeling three emotions: sad, proud and nervous. This past Saturday was our last lesson with C. This final lesson lasted longer than an hour and was a group lesson. It involved us and two others working with C and their dogs. Again, I won’t use their names, just initials, but will give the dogs’ names. Both students were ladies; they were K and her female lab Kelly and M and her male mutt Miles. K & Kelly were also on their last of 10 lessons. M & Miles still have several more to go. This gave us all a chance to work our dogs with other dogs; this is part of the Delta test. We have to be able to walk up to someone who also has a dog on a leash and shake hands while your dog remains sitting. I was worried about this as Georgia is friendly with other dogs, but she did well and sat during our practice runs with the other dogs. We all took turns running through different parts of the Delta test and C told us things that we could get dinged on. A tight leash is one…have to work on that when turning. Georgia tends to get a little head of me. Must have a loose leash!

Back to my emotions, we’ll start with sad. I am sad because C has become a friend to both me and Georgia. I am sad to not have another lesson with her to look forward to. She clearly loves dogs, people and her job. She works miracles. She would never say that, she’d say that it’s really me and Georgia, but I think it’s all three of us.  We could not have done it without her, that’s 100% true. Georgia is my team mate and does give me confidence, but it was nice to have someone to literally say, “You can do it”. C believes Georgia is meant for this and that I am too. Once she called Georgia a “heart dog”, meaning she captures your heart right away. I like that. I’m almost in tears writing this. Clearly Georgia has captured my heart! J

The next emotion is proud. I am so proud of how far we have come as individuals and a team. From where we started to where we are today is a huge improvement. Do we still have work to do? Yes, I think we always will, but I’m proud of how far we’ve come and will go in the future. My puppy is growing up and become a well behaved dog! I was also proud watching the other teams we worked with on Saturday.  It was the first time I’d met them, but C gave me some background info on where they started. Both teams looked good; another testament to C and her skills.

Now, some more detail about our last lesson and some other exciting news. We’ll get to my nervousness later. We had our group lesson outside of a public library in a shaded area (it was 100 degrees Saturday!) This is when we practiced greeting a person with a dog and did other items that will be on the Delta test. Something else we did was C tried to scare the dogs by opening a large umbrella near them and waving it around. All three dogs didn’t seem to notice, so that was good. C said to pass this part of the test we just have to re-assure our dog and keep them calm. In the test they may do something like that or knock something over that makes a loud sound. I’m not too worried about this part, Georgia normally does OK if I re-assure her. By re-assure her I mean I just gentle pat her and say, “It’s ok”.

After we had worked outside for a bit and worked up a sweat we were able to go into the lobby of the library. This occurred because as we arrived at the library C saw a former student and her dog entering the library. She was there as part of the ‘Read to the Dog’ program which happens two Saturdays a month at this particular library. C asked if it was OK for us to just enter the lobby area with the dogs to practice entering a new place with a good amount of people around. So, off we went in a single file line into the library lobby. We had all three dogs lie down and ‘stay’. This wasn’t too difficult for them since they were all worn out from being in the heat. As we all stood their cooling off and having the dogs ‘stay’, a woman came out of a nearby restroom. Georgia and I were the closest to her (of course) and she saw us first, then she saw the other two dogs. Her eyes got huge, she started screaming, “OH MY GOSH” & slammed herself against the wall. I told her it was ok and that my dog and the other two were nice and wouldn’t hurt her. This didn’t seem to help, she continued to panic and breathe hard. C then stepped in-between the woman and us and the dogs. She told her it was OK and that these dogs weren’t aggressive or they wouldn’t be out in a public setting like this. None of this seemed to help. C had to take the woman by the arm, tell her to breathe and walk her out of the library. It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. The dogs never got up, they all remained lying down. Maybe this woman had a terrible experience with a dog, it sure seemed that way, but it was very dramatic. I just had to shake my head. After she was safely out of the library we had some kids come by and asked to pet the dogs, everyone did well. While it was a strange situation, at least it reminded me that some people do fear dogs and I need to be prepared for that.

Next we left the library and headed to C’s house to get some cool drinks, do a bit more training and discuss the next steps. Once there M brought up the CGC test (Canine Good Citizen). I had heard of it but knew it wasn’t something necessary to become a therapy dog so I hadn’t given it any thought. I learned that C is authorized to administer the test for the American Kennel Club. We got out the paper work and went through the nine items required to pass. We had completed them all at the library except for one; separation. This requires the owner to leave the dog for 3 minutes without the dog whining, barking or panicking over his/her owner leaving. So, I went outside for 3 minutes and Georgia was perfectly fine – she passed! Georgia is now Canine Good Citizen. It is really just a title that shows your dog is well behaved. She will get a certificate and tag for her collar from the American Kennel Club stating she is a CGC. This is not the test to become a therapy dog, but it’s something nice to have. I’m so proud of my Good Citizen Georgia! Georgia becoming a CGC is the existing news I mentioned earlier in the blog. Yay!

One more emotion to discuss: nervousness. This blog entry is long enough, so I’ll touch on that in another one & finish detailing our last lesson with C. Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. We did, but it was too short! Thanks for reading!