Beautiful Memories.....

My son Master B the greater part of his young life in a powered wheelchair. He loved to buzz around the local park which was a huge area with lovely gardens called Brays Bay Reserve. The RSLs had a joint path which they designed that snaked it’s way around the water front and visitors could stop along the way to read monuments to the Kakoda Trail. All of my children loved this area. We often had family picnics there and during the summer months the local council would have starlight cinemas running; they were free outdoor movies and all you were required to do was to take a pillow to sit on. Master B loved the free of being able to buzz around Brays Bay in his wheelchair. If he was gone more than an hour we knew to go looking for him but he was always home on time and I never had a worry. One day some boys came knocking on the front door and said that they had pushed Master B's wheelchair home after he had run over something and punctured one of his tyres. They were older teenagers and I was amazed at their obvious satisfaction at being able to help him. I was so grateful to them. After a lang discussion at home we decided to contact the Companion Dogs Association as I had been told that their dogs were trained to respond when incidences such as this occurred.

So it came about that Aliese came to live with us. She was a beautiful 5 year old Goldern Retriever and she soon accompanied Master B everywhere. Aliese had been trained to jump up and push the crossing buttons at pedestrian crossings which is too difficult for someone with restricted arm movement from a wheelchair. She would also run home to us for help if Master B's chair became bogged, got a flat tyre or broke down. This only ever seem to occur at school however the peace if mind whilst he was at home was worth it. One time she was frantically barking at the front door when Master B had yet another flat tyre, her barking only seized once Master B came back into her view. That was what she had been trained for. We had Aliese four years before Master B passed away and she stayed with us for two years afterwards. I asked the staff at Companion Dogs if it would be more beneficial to place Aliese with a new family that may have been able to use her well-trained skills however, Aliese was at the end of her “working days” and she had become attached to our family. During those two years she fretted badly for Master B as they had become devoted to each other and unfortunately we were no replacement for young Master B. When I had to move remotely for work we decided to down size our accommodation so that there would be less for the other family members to maintain. However, that left the dilemma of what would happen to Aliese. She could not come with me, the offspring spent a great deal of time away and the new home had almost no back yard, which would make life unfair to Aliese. There were so few people that I would contemplate leaving her with because she was after all, family so I had to weight up the fairness against the unfairness.

Three months before this a close friend (we will call him Ezygoing as he is one of the most easy going poeple that I know) had a dog called King. Unfortunately King had passed away leaving a serious void in the family. King and Aliese had spent a good deal of time together and Aliese loved the attention which Ezy would lavish on her. With all of that in mind I took myself off to visit Ezy and Vicki and discuss a possible transition from our family to their family. As you can imagine both of them were overjoyed. And it took no more than about a week for her to settle in. I cried buckets that first month and it seemed strange having yet another empty space in the house. The adjustment was far harder than I had ever imagined it would be as it really did feel like another member of the family was gone. I often read debates between people who question the need of family pets however, until you have been in this position one can not appreciate just what a significant role within the family unit they play. Anyway now I can come and go at King and Aliese's house to visit without any regrets. As Ezy said, Aliese is getting old however she is happy and settled and obviously loves both Ezy and Vicki. She is always pleased to see me when I visit and now that she has King Jr. to mother over Aliese seems even happier. I sometimes think that it’s probably a good thing that we humans do not know what is ahead of us in time as this way we make the most of the present by enjoying each day that we have.
As for Brays Bay Reserve, a year after Master B passed away I wanted to do something to comemorate that time but didn't want to do anything sad or anything which would drag our spirits down. So a group of friends surprized me by organising a picnic at Brays Bay. It was a beautiful day, we had a lovely picnic lunch and released 14 balloons (which represented how old he would have been at that time). My friend Sue was married to a church minister who gave a short speech about beautiful memories and the importance of retaining them. Hence, I wanted to record this story here. If ever you get the chance to visit Bray's Bay I would highly recommend it.