Thank you to “-e-” for sending this along!  

As we were walking to school today we saw our neighbor and her sweet black lab Play-Dough out for their morning stroll. After they passed, Riley tugged me down to her level and whispered dreamily in my ear,

“Mom. Do you think Jingle and Play-Dough might fall in love?”

I’m imagining Riley falling asleep at night, stroking Jingle’s velvety ear.

I know my daughter. Soon she’ll be able to tell you how many whiskers Jingle has on her chin. She does this with her cats, really studies them. Today I’m off to buy supplies. A crate. Food. Toys.

I want to know who trained Jingle. Was she in a foster home? In prison? Jingle, where ‘ya been?  Jingle, was it rough in there?  Jingle, can you hear me?

Okay, I need help. I admit it.

That’s the first step, right?

BTW, Riley has gone back to Jingle’s picture many times and is talking about her a lot now.

This is Jingle’s class picture. All of these dogs (and their kids) will be training with us starting next week. I don’t know if you can view it if you aren’t on Facebook but it is so cute! It’s like they are all lined up for a kindergarten yearbook. We think our Jingle has a very distinctive look.

Riley loved the letter. She sucked in her breath, and said, “Jingle!” She knew exactly which dog it was, even without seeing the photo. She tried to suppress her arms which were going wild with her ”happy” tic. When she does this, she clasps her hands together  in front like the little girls when they sing in The Sound of Music. She tries to control it so it won’t be as obvious.

“She’s so cute,” she said, staring at the picture.

This lasted for about 30 seconds and then she went back to what she was doing, seemingly unfazed.

“Riley! You were wishing for Jingle. Remember when you saw her picture when she was a puppy? You said you wanted her. ”

“Maybe,” she said.

“Remember you said if you had to pick, you’d pick Jingle?” 

C’mon kid. I want a reaction!

“Maybe.”

I crinkled my eyebrows at Todd, am I crazy?

He laughed and shook his head. He remembered. He was there when she said she wanted Jingle. He heard it more than once.

Perhaps she’s feeling too exposed to admit it. 

Maybe she’s just tired from Seth’s party.

Maybe she really doesn’t remember(fat chance).    

And that’s the thing with autism. Riley could no sooner morph herself into a reaction for my sake than she could be mean to someone. She just is who she is.  

A few hours later, she came back to Jingle’s picture. She cocked her head to the side, smiled and pressed her hands together.

It was enough.

Hello!

Those of you familiar with the us know we are getting a service dog very soon! On Oct. 12 we leave for Xenia, Ohio to meet Riley’s new dog in person. We will stay in Xenia for ten days of training, bringing the dog back to the hotel with us. It is important all four of us are on the same page with the dog. The kids will miss two weeks of school.

I plan on blogging the whole experience while we are away. In the meantime, I’ve posted links to the back story of how we decided to go this route for Riley, and the amazing way it all unfolded.

Sharing this experience with you, makes it even sweeter.

Love.

MO’N

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/10/friend-like-henry.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/10/girls-best-friend.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/11/woof.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/11/service-dog-for-riley.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/12/brother-seths-great-idea.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/12/on-radio.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/12/concert.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2008/12/baby-mine.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2009/01/universe-is-abundant.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2009/01/brother-chris.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-dwell-in-possibility.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2009/08/letter-to-bd.html

http://michelleoneilwrites.blogspot.com/2009/10/jingle-jingle-jingle.html

After waiting almost a full year, Riley finally recieved this from 4 Paws:

Hi Riley,

My name is Jingle and I am a Australian Shepherd/Boxer mix. I am so excited that you are going to be my new best friend. We can do so many girl things together like having a girls night sleep over, EVERY single night! My birthday is November 7, 2008 and I am a member of the Hodgepodge Names Gang. I am excited I get to celebrate my first birthday with you. That is so cool. I hope we can have a party! Do you like liverwurst cake? I love it and even better if it is decorated with Pupperoni and Milk Bones! I have been hoping my whole life that I would get to graduate and have a partner and secretly I always hoped my partner, (that is you!) would be a girl like me. I hope your family will hurry to get here because I will be dreaming about you all night long!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Jingle