DEC 31,2015

AH --- WELCOME TO TH E WONDERFUL WORLD OF A PAPERLESS SOCIETY-- AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT -- I HAVE A BRIDGE IN BROOKLYN I WOULD LIKE TO SELL YOU..    I AM DROWNING IN FORMS AND SPREADSHEETS AND PIECES OF PAPER THAT SAY "THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK"   I WISH THEY ALL WERE.    I THINK I WILL INSTATUTE A WEEK OF NO SPELCHECK-- STARTING TOMORROW. JUST SO THE NEW PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND -- PEOPLE HAVE HISTORICALLY HAD FUN WITH MY POOR GRAMMER,SELLING AND TYPOS.. I DO TRY-- I TOOK LATIN IN HIGHSCHOOL- I WAS TOLD LATIN WOULD HELP -- NOT TRUE......LATIN-- WHAT A WASTE OF TIME-- I WOULD LIKE TO SEE SIGN LANGUAGE TAUGT AS A SECOND LANGUAGE-- THEN IT WOULD BE SECOND TO EVERYONE -- SPANISH AND ENGLISH... PLUS ( I AM NOT SURE ABOUT THIS...) IT IS ONE OF THE TOP 10 LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD..??? MAYBE???   I DO KNOW WHEN I WAS IN GERMANY WITH ZERO GERMAN WORDS AT A TRAIN STATION I COULD BEGIN TO COMMUNICATE WITH A FEW DEAF PEOPLE ABOUT DEPARTURE TIMES.   NOW THERE IS A STORY-- WELL....A COUPLE OF THEM- I WAS THERE TO TRY AND FIND A DANE OR TWO TO IMPORT---- I HAD A LIST OF KENNELS FROM THE DUESCHE DOGGIE SOCIETY( GERMAN AKC) SORTED BY ZIP CODE--- AND I HAD ONE OF THOSE EUROPASS RAILROAD TICKETS- MY ROOMATE FROM EDINBRGH - GWEN- WAS WITH ME-- OUR METHOD WAS TO GET ON A NICE LOOKING TRAIN- AND THEN TRY AND GET THE CONDUCTOR TO TELL US WHAT ZIP CODES WE WOULD BE GOING TO---WE SPENT A WEEK - A VERY DIFFERENT WAY TO TRAVEL/.... HAD A GRAND TIME. WE CAME TO REALLY APPRECIATE THE TRAIN SYSTEMS IN GERMANY-- INCLUDING SEEING A VERY YOUNG CHILD ON THE PLATFORM WAITING FOR THE TRAIN-- SCHOOL BAG-- JUST LIKE AMERICAN KIDS WAIT FOR THE SCHOOL BUSSES--- HE WAS TAKING A TRAIN TO THE NEXT TOWN TO SCHOOL.. IN THE US, WE WOULD RUN A YELLOW BUS THAT COULD NOT POSSIBLEY KEEP A SCHEDLUE  FYI THOSE GERMAN TRAINS RAN WITH A NOTATION OF 30 SECONDS--- 10:14:30 WAS 14 AND A HALF MINUTES AFTER 10-- AND THEY MEANT IT. AND THEY RAN SO OFTEN--- - ALONG WITH CARRYING BIKES, CARS WERE NOT NECESSARY- MANY TIMES I LOOK AT ROUTE 95 COMMUTEERS AND WONDER WHY CAN;T WE???? BEST WE CAN DO IS A ZIP LANE FOR A CAR WITH 2 OCCUPANTS...THERE IS SOMETHING MISSING HERE. GWEN WAS FLUENT IN FRENCH-- WHICH GOT US SOME POINTS-- BUT ONE NIGHT -- WE WERE IN SOME SMALL TOWN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHEN THE NEXT TRAIN LEFT THE STATION AND ALL WE GOT WAS "NINE" WHICH WE THOUGHT WAS NINE O'CLOCK--  BUT IT WAS THE NEGATIVE NEIGN -- LIKE THERE IS NONE.. THAT WAS A CHALLANGE... OTHER THAN THAT WE DID WELL .**************** CUTTING AND PASTING,,,, Hi Carlene,  George and I are having a wonderful vacation. He is being so good. We go out everyday and work together. Last week we went to NY and stayed at a hotel and George was so good. Everyone loved him. He didn't like when I jumped into the pool though. He was laying down and once I jumped he jumped up. Once he knew I was ok he went right back to laying down. We are having so much fun together and I am so happy that he will be with me for a few more days. This weekend we are going to visit my Oma And Opa and they haven't meet George yet but they are super excited. Thank you for letting George spend vacation with me! Bella  ******** MEGN AN D I NEED TO GET GEORGE INTO HER SCHOOL-- HE JUST NEEDS SOME EXPOSURE TO TAT BURST OF KIDS IN THE HALL BETWEEN CLASSES... THAT IS SHOCKING TO A DOG-- THEN HE CAN GO WITH HER TO SCHOOL-- THE SCHOOL IS READY ... WE NEED TO WORK ON GEORGE.   ******** Hello Carlene and everyone at SDP! So much has happened since we last wrote to you. In late October we were very fortunate to venture to Savannah GA, and St. Augustine, FL, both are places that have been on my bucket list for quite some time. We traveled with two friends and had a great time. Lola learned to work with me and a wheelchair for the first time and she was perfection! Somebody pushes my chair and she walks right beside me and I hold her harness handle like I would if walking. We went on a few trolley tours and everyone got such a kick out of her sitting in the seat next to me with her head hanging out of the window. It was hysterical to see her head move “right” and “left” when the tour guide would point things out to us. We went to a restaurant and the owner had just lost his Dane. He sat with us and told us all about his furbaby and cried. He said (and I agree) all dogs are wonderful, but there is just something special about a Dane. So many people stopped us during our travels to ask questions about Lola and take pictures with her. A few weeks ago Lola and I were invited to a local elementary school to do a presentation on service animals. A friend of ours coaches young inner city girls in track and field. They were learning about people with “differences”. Whether it be skin color, backgrounds, disabilities etc. We sat in a room with about 12 girls ages 8-10. We showed them all the wonderful skills Lola has to help me daily. We taught them how to approach somebody with a service animal and how people with disabilities are like everyone else. They were all very attentive and respectful. At the end they each got a picture taken with Lola. Two weeks after our meeting, they ran a local 5k. At the end of the race a man was there with a large dog in a vest. The girls got very excited and ran up to him to ask if they could pet him because they can’t pet Lola. The man said his dog was a therapy dog and they were encouraged to pet him. The girls began to tell him all about Lola and the wonderful things she does for “Miss Michelle”. My friend said it was a great feeling to watch her girls talk about Lola and the feeling of pride that they understood how special she is. We are doing so many things I wasn’t able to do before, my sweet girl and I, and I am beyond grateful to all of you for these life changing experiences I am able to have. We hope you are all well and look forward to coming up soon to visit!! Michelle & Lola Schiavone