This is one of my best friends of over 20 years. Francine and I met shortly after I arrived in Montreal in a factory we both worked at. We hit it off right away and have seen each other go through major ups and downs in our lives over the years and lived to to tell about it lol. We don't get to see eachother often, as she lives over a hour away but when we do, it's always a treat.
Below is a photo of them and their dogs. They are a dog foster family for a foundation called MIRA. Mira trains the to be seeing eye dogs for the blind, or companion dogs for the handicapped etc. The red scarves u see on the dogs allows them to go everywhere. Resturants, malls, hospitals...as puppies and untill they are taken in for full training, they must be aclimatized to all situations everywhere...among crowds and public places. They love doing this although it's difficult to part with the dogs when its time. They realize however that they will help someone else down the road so that softens the loss.
We went to their house over the holidays for a great meal and good company.
The dogs are very affectionate so we got cuddles alot. What a difference these to big dogs make compared to our 3 small ones lol!!
This dog above is Jenna. She passed all the testing and training for the hardest training as a seeing eye dog. Unfortunately..a few months into the program they realized she had a small health issue so couldn't use her. Fortunately it's not something serious and the foster family are the first to get the opportunity to buy her. So they did!
Above is Magpie. When they got her, she could fit in our hands! She will soon be going back to Mira for her training. She passed many tests already so they know she will be trained to accompany and help a handicapped person. Each dog has different talents and strengths which are determined by many tests they do on the dogs.
Last but not least, my dear friends Francine and her partner Claude. Francine is my friend without saying..Claude I met about 10 yrs ago when she started dating him and I can sincerely say I consider him a friend also. Big teddy bear that we always have a good laugh with. But most important, he adores Francine!
As for my Francine, well, she is the kind of friend you just know will be there commiserating with you when we are 80, if we make it that far lol. She is also that friend you can call no matter what. Good days and bad...to lend a shoulder or a slap on the back and no matter what, we can always make eachother laugh!
I love her very much.
I can only hope everyone has a friend like that.
6 comments:
Moon, I do indeed know how wonderful it is to have a friend like that! I am glad that you have Francine, and I have 2 friends like that. Her dogs looks wonderful and I think it is terrific that she can train them to be such good members of society!
Thank you for adding your thoughts on Non-believer? at Loose Leaf and for sharing your wonderful friendship here.
At the end of the day I like to review what I'm thankful for and "good friends" often show up on that list.
Owwww, what a lovely post about your lovely friend/s. And how lovely are their dogs? Gorgeous!
I'm happy to say I have two friends who I've known since I was 2 and although we rarely meet now, whenever we talk the years roll away and there is so much history we share.
what a lovely family - the adults and the dogs.
Francine sounds like a wonderful person and the work they do with those dogs is fantastic. The photo of you both together is lovely.
Just popped by to let you know I had good news :) Hope all is well with you!
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