Story of the Day
"Waiting at
the Door"
My
grandmother became a widow in 1970. Shortly after that, we went to the
animal shelter to pick out a puppy to keep her company. Grandma decided on
a little terrier that had a reddish-brown spot above each eye. Because of
these spots, the dog was promptly named Penny.
Grandma and Penny
quickly became very attached to each other, but that attachment grew much
stronger about three years later when Grandma had a stroke. Grandma could
no longer work, so when she came home from the hospital, she and Penny were
constant companions.
After her stroke,
it became a real problem for Grandma to let Penny in and out because the door
was at the bottom of a flight of stairs. So a mechanism using a rope and
pulley was installed from the back door to a handle at the top of the stairs.
Grandma just had to pull the handle to open and close the door. If the
store was out of Penny's favorite dog food, Grandma would make one of us cook
Penny browned beef with diced potatoes in it. I can remember teasing my
grandmother that she loved that dog better than she loved her family.
As the years
passed, Grandma and Penny became inseparable. Grandma's old house could be
filled to the brim with people, but if Grandma went to take her nap, Penny
walked along beside her and stayed by her side until she awoke. As Penny
aged, she could no longer jump up on the bed to lay next to Grandma, so she laid
on the rug beside the bed. If Grandma went into the bathroom, Penny would
hobble along beside her, wait outside the door and accompany her back to the bed
or chair. Grandma never went anywhere without her faithful companion by
her side.
The time came when
both my grandmother and Penny's health were failing fast. Penny couldn't
get around very well, and Grandma had been hospitalized several times. My
uncle and I lived with Grandma, so Penny was never left alone, even when Grandma
was in the hospital. During these times, Penny sat at the window looking
out for the car bringing Grandma home and would excitedly wait at the door when
Grandma came through it. Each homecoming was a grand reunion between the
two.
On Christmas Day in
1985, Grandma was again taken to the hospital. Penny, as usual, sat
watching out the window for the car bringing Grandma home. Two mornings
later when the dog woke up, she couldn't seem to work out the stiffness in her
hips as she usually did. The same morning, she began having seizures.
At age fifteen, we knew it was time. My mother and aunt took her to the
veterinarian and stayed with her until the end.
Now the big dilemma
was whether to tell Grandma while she was still in the hospital or wait.
The decision was made to tell her while she was in the hospital because when we
pulled up at the house, the first thing Grandma would look for was her beloved
Penny watching out the window and then happily greeting her at the door.
Grandma shed some tears but said she knew that it had to be done so Penny
wouldn't suffer.
That night while
still in the hospital, Grandma had a massive heart attack. The doctors
frantically worked on her but could not revive her. After fifteen years of
loving companionship, Grandma and Penny passed away within a few hours of each
other. God had it all worked out – Penny was waiting at door when
Grandma came Home.