You would think that meeting Clayton Kershaw at UCLA would make the rest of 
the morning pale in comparison. Instead it just kept getting better.
After recovering from the Kershaw encounter, I brought Gus downstairs. Blue Moon an adorable miniature horse, who is a special part of the People Animal Connection, was doing visits in the atrium outside the lobby.
Since we had to hang around to meet a few people, I took Gus outside to see Blue Moon. A teenage girl in a wheelchair had been slowly but happily walking the horse. She noticed Gus with his still slightly blue Dodger ears and her smile grew even bigger. By the way, she liked my hair too.
ELBEE Really?
That opened the floodgates for her to start telling me about a special Yorkie she used to have. I believe it was for emotional support. The teen was incredibly animated as she shared photos and videos of the dog dyed different colors and in costume.
What I didn’t learn until later was that it was the first time she’d left her hospital room in a month! She was such an animal lover that the thought of seeing Blue Moon and the dogs had been the incentive to get her out of bed.
On the patio by one of the entrances, some of the PAC dogs were doing a visit station. It’s a monthly event when people coming in and out of the hospital have a chance to meet the dogs and to find out what they do. That was our next stop.
Gus was meeting and greeting everyone with tail wagging when suddenly he was sitting in the middle of a bunch of teenage girls who were squealing his name and hugging him like an old friend. Turns out they were old friends. A therapist had brought down some patients from the Eating Disorder Unit to see Blue Moon and the dogs.
Gus, Elbee and, even Charley before them, have worked in that unit for years. Unfortunately, over long periods of time, many of the patients are in and out of the hospital. On the bright side, they come to know and love the dogs. There is a real bonding that occurs.
Perhaps seeing that interaction, Yancy, another dog lover, who was covering the event for UCLA social media, asked if I would do a short interview.
ELBEE That was a no brainer.
I almost didn’t have to answer his questions because there was a constant stream of people around Gus and the other dogs showing Yancy exactly what they do. From a staff member who’d had a rough morning, to an autistic boy in a wheelchair, to a family that had flown to California in support of a critically ill relative, all we heard were “thank you” and “this made my day.” It was like a collective sigh of relief.
