June 2020 – Me and the Doods.com

Dogs, Dads & Dodgers

I’m a total sports nut, the kind who screams when watching a game, whether it’s on TV or in person. Years ago, when the Lakers were at their peak, I was so loud that the daughters (and the neighbors) could hear me yelling from out in the street during the games. If my team is winning, I will stay rooted to one spot, afraid I’ll jinx them if I move.

I should clarify that I’m actually a baseball and basketball fan. Other sports, like football, go right over my head.

ELBEE She’s not kidding. One time she and my brother Charley were on the field at the Rose Bowl for a special UCLA appearance. The director told her to go stand on the ten yard line. When she asked where it was, he told her that it was next to the nine yard line. That guy was funny.

The Lakers and Dodgers are my teams. I once ducked out of a fancy wedding reception at a hotel in Beverly Hills to sneak into the bar and watch the Lakers in a pivotal play-off game. Meeting Magic Johnson at a charity event is one of my prized memories. So is casually running into long time Dodgers’ announcer Vin Scully when he was out shopping with his family.

ELBEE There was absolutely nothing casual about the way she ran up to him. I think she scared the poor man.

One of my favorite perks of volunteering at UCLA with the dogs is the Laker/Dodger connection. UCLA Heath is in partnership with both teams so there are often events where we get to meet the players.

Gus and I spent a morning visiting patients with Kenta Maeda when he was a pitcher for the Dodgers. We had the chance to take photos with Brandon Ingram when he was a Laker.

ELBEE Wonder if meeting her has anything to do with the fact that they’ve both moved on to other teams. Just a thought.

Recently, I received an e-mail requesting volunteers for a Zoom Father’s Day event at Mattel Children’s Hospital called “Dogs, Dads and Dodgers.” I couldn’t sign up fast enough, figuring that virtual Dodgers would be better than no Dodgers.

ELBEE Hmm wonder where she got the title for this post.

I was so excited when I signed in for the Zoom meeting that Sunday. I expected half of the team would be on the call and that we’d all chat.

ELBEE Seriously?

I was momentarily disappointed when I saw that it was only going to be one player, Ross Stripling. Then, as he began to read to the kids, I was really touched. I mean how often do you have the privilege of, even virtually, seeing a Dodger pitcher enthusiastically reading a children’s book to kids in the hospital. On another positive note, he’s still with the Dodgers so I didn’t scare him away.

Pandemics, Protests and Positivity

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing and black lives matter protests taking place around the world, I once again questioned if I should be striking a more serious note. I mentioned my concern to a few friends who immediately said “absolutely not.” They wanted my posts to be about love and positivity, not conflict and negativity.

ELBEE At least she’s not giving people heartburn with their morning coffee.

A lot of the credit goes to Gus and Stanley for helping me keep it together in these difficult days. They have been incredibly patient.

ELBEE That’s obvious.

It’s widely accepted that 10 minutes of petting a dog lowers your blood pressure, releases relaxing hormones and reduces psychic stress. Now studies show that cuddling with us may lower dogs’ blood pressure and cause them to release relaxing hormones. That made me feel so much better.

ELBEE Where does she come up with this stuff?

On another positive note, I’ve seen lots of UCLA signs popping up for the class of 2020. Every time I see one, I’m tempted to pose Gus and Stanley in front, because, after all, they are honorary Bruins. The signs make me think about the many patients, families and staff who are benefiting from the Zoom visits that the People Animal Connection teams are continuing to do.

ELBEE She forgot to mention that most of the signs were put up by UCLA alumni. That would include me.

To be honest, the virtual visits still seem odd to me. Yet how can I argue with the people who say that simply seeing the dogs and hearing about them, makes them smile.

I was given another gift of love from Marsha, the groomer, when I went to pick up the dogs at the “spa,” in itself a wonderful moment. You try drying Gus and Stanley.

GUS & STANLEY Hey, fabulous takes upkeep.

She told me that a woman, seeing Gus from the doorway, said he looked just like a dog that had visited her mother when she was a patient at Providence Tarzana Hospital. Turns out it was Gus. Her daughter said that the timing was perfect. Her mom had been so cheered up that she’d gotten out of bed and dropped down on the floor with him. Knowing how the visits still resonate is so comforting.

I had another beautiful encounter with a woman who was drawn to Stanley as soon as she met him. Knowing that he was a therapy dog and that I’d had others, she looked me in the eye and very quietly and sincerely said, “Thank you so much for what you do. I can tell you from personal experience that it works. It saved me.”

I truly hope these Dood moments that help me can help you too. I hope they can make these dark times a little brighter by chasing away stress and anxiety, even for a few moments.

Signs of the Time

It seems like forever ago that COVID-19 first came into our consciousness. At the time, trying to focus on the positive I wrote about the chalk drawings that were suddenly appearing on sidewalks. Some were funny. Some were grateful. Some were encouraging. They were early signs of this surreal time.

Over the last three months, the signs have changed. Seeing them when I walk the dogs is like an emotional gauge. I simply have to observe to get a sense of all that is happening.

In March, closed signs started to appear as stay at home orders were issued. Non-essential businesses had to lock their doors. The beaches and parks were shut down. Then, hard as it was to believe, the mountains were off limits.

ELBEE That one by the beach has a mixed message.

A few weeks ago, when I was walking the dogs down Ventura Blvd., a normally bustling street, there was barely any traffic. Stores and businesses were closed. In almost every window were signs indicating that they were shut down until further notice due to COVID-19. It felt as if I was in a science fiction movie.

This month, as things have gradually started to reopen, there has been a shift in the signs once again. Stores are announcing new hours and new rules. Masks are required along with social distancing. There are notices at crosswalks, warning you not to touch the button for the light, just to wait for it to change.

My favorite signs, like the chalk messages in the beginning, are the ones of celebration and gratitude. After months of home schooling, parents are showing lots of appreciation for teachers. The teachers, having missed the kids, are also reaching out.

June, usually a joyous month of graduation, has become a time of virtual celebration. I’ve lost count of how many signs of congratulation I’ve seen and how many drive-by parties and ceremonies. This sign for Justin touched me because I graduated from Syracuse University. I can only imagine his disappointment at missing all the pomp and circumstance.

ELBEE It was so long ago, I bet she can’t even remember the ceremony.

Gus and Stanley have even joined the chorus of well wishers. They are sending congratulations to the class of 2020.

ELBEE I can’t believe it. Stanley is wearing my favorite Grateful Dead tie.

We have been faced with so many deep rooted challenges in the past few weeks. I hope that the next signs I see will reflect love, honor and healing. Let them be signs of kindness and respect.

Who Ya Gonna Call? Virtual Stress Busters!

During final exams at UCLA, the PAC dogs serve as stress busters at Powell Library. As soon as the dogs walk in, the mood lightens and studying takes a temporary back seat. On one visit a girl kept hugging Gus and crying, reassuring me that they were happy tears. During Stanley’s first time at Powell, one of the students lay down on the floor with him.

Last week, since the pandemic made it impossible to bring the dogs in, virtual visits were the next best thing. Having done several meetings, I confidently logged in with Gus and Stanley. That’s when it happened. My computer told me that I couldn’t log in because I had to update Zoom. Two months ago I’d never even heard of it. Now I had to update it?

ELBEE What happened to her tech “savvyiness?”

With great trepidation, I pressed the update button. The blue line started moving but I don’t think it could have gone any slower. When it finally finished and I was about to congratulate myself, another message came up informing me that I didn’t have the necessary authority to install the update. It even asked if I was a robot.

ELBEE I was laughing so hard.

Then the invisible “it” who was controlling all of this wanted a password. By some miracle, after three wrong ones, I got it right. Then, totally stressed, I joined the other teams at the anti-stress meeting already in progress.

Gus, done by then, went to take a nap. Stanley, on the other hand, loves Zoom and shares the screen with me. One of the girls started smiling as soon as she saw his big shaggy head. She remembered him from a pet visit station at the hospital. She had been having a really bad day and Stanley had turned it around. A moment later she help up a photo of her and Stanley that she had saved in her phone.

Stanley watched as everyone introduced their dogs to the students, shared stories and answered questions. All of a sudden he saw Blue Moon, the adorable miniature horse who is in the program. Stanley has met her a few times and is a little obsessed. He couldn’t take his eyes off the screen as her owner Victoria had her do a few tricks.

ELBEE When Blue Moon played her piano, I thought Stanley was going to dance.

Obviously, it’s harder to gage the effects that the dogs are having during a virtual visit. It’s “pet” therapy and there is no petting. The only feedback comes through the comments and questions. On that day, someone had typed in, “I’m so happy now.” That made me so happy too.

It’s a Virtual World

Everywhere you look people are Zooming… book clubs, dog classes, family get togethers, cocktail parties. UCLA, in an effort to keep everyone connected and to let more faculty, staff and students meet the dogs, has been holding all sorts of sessions. We are experiencing this difficult time together so it’s also a chance to communicate, commiserate and support each other.

With the variety of virtual visits the Doods and I have been doing lately, I’m proud to say that my tech “savvyness” has grown by leaps and bounds.

ELBEE That is not a word. And “leaps and bounds” means that she can now log in to a meeting and actually get the video turned on.

This week some of the teams from the People Animal Connection did a teleconference with the history department. I think that’s what it’s called when you can see everyone, including yourself, in little squares on the screen.

It was going great. Students and staff from the department were so enthusiastic about meeting the dogs. Someone even commented that Gus’s hair looked just like Brian May’s from Queen. Being a fan, I loved the comparison.

ELBEE Bohemian Rhapsody is my favorite movie. Yes, we have screenings up here.

Then I had an etiquette dilemma. I noticed that my blush, which I was wearing for the first time in days, was too heavy. I didn’t know whether to discreetly try to blend it or duck out of the meeting, fix it and return.

ELBEE Is she kidding?

On another morning we did a virtual visit with the younger kids and the teens from the neuropsych units. We’ve done a couple before and have been trying to figure out ways to get the patients more engaged.

Shortly before we were going to start, Ursula, an amazing therapist whom we’ve worked with for years, e-mailed me and said how about costumes for the dogs. Having dressed up the Doods more times than I care to admit, it was a no-brainer. I threw together hats, scarves, sunglasses.

It was a hit from the beginning. The kids were laughing at the costumes and voting on the costume changes. We let them choose red hat or tan, pink tiara or blue? By the time we signed off, I was as happy as the kids had been.

A short time later, I received another e-mail from Ursula. Prior to the visit, one of the girls had been extremely withdrawn. During our onscreen costume party she had suddenly come to life. According to Ursula, “she was totally engaged and distracted while she was watching.”

It was one of those moments that make me look at Gus and Stanley, plus Charley and Elbee before them, with such incredible gratitude and wonder. No matter how many times these little miracles occur, they will never cease to amaze me.