On Friday, the day after Gus visited the Motion Picture Television Fund, he did his regular rounds at Tarzana Hospital.
STANLEY I don’t usually butt in but is she forgetting me? I worked wonders at UCLA.
ELBEE I feel his pain.
As soon as the security guards 
greeted him at the entrance, Gus was ready to go. There were fewer kids in isolation on pediatrics so he was able to do several individual room visits. The smiles and giggles were a pure gift.
Then we went floor to floor offering stress relief for the appreciative staff, many of whom we’ve known for years. I’ll never get tired of hearing, “This made my day.”
It was after we left the hospital that the fun began. Our first stop was Starbucks. Someone was genius enough to open one in the lobby of the medical building next to the hospital. How convenient that I can walk through there to reach my car.
At first I was hesitant to bring the dogs in, but seeing all of our hospital ID, they couldn’t have been nicer. Now they know Stanley and Gus by name. By the way, their mocha Frappuccino is the perfect pick me up after a busy morning of visits.
ELBEE I used to love their Puppuccinos.
While I was waiting for my order, a woman, seeing Gus, came over to say she’d met me and my dogs before. A few year earlier, she’d been a patient at Tarzana and I’d brought one or two in to see her. She was so sincere and appreciative as she shared how much it meant to her, we were both almost in tears.
Our last stop of the morning was at a pharmacy in a medical building on the other side of the parking lot. The two incredible women who run it are always happy to see the dogs.
As we were leaving, two men in scrubs, whom I later found out were doctors in the building, came running over to see Gus. They were huge dog lovers. One even had a tattoo on his arm of a beloved Schnauzer that had passed away. They were also very entertaining!
One of them sat down on a bench so that he could hold Gus in his lap. Then, not sure if it was his idea or mine, he ended up in Gus’s hat and Harry Potter glasses, a great compliment to Gus in his pink shades. It was the perfect ending to a fabulous morning.
