Cal left November 13th, a week after Bryce arrived (really good timing, considering). We drove to Ogden to meet the puppy truck in the parking lot of the hotel where the drivers had stayed for the night on their way to Oregon. It was early. The day was snowy and cold. Darrel had High Council meetings, so I asked my mom to come with me to keep me awake on the drive as Bryce wasn't sleeping much at that point in time. She waited in the car with the baby while the rest of us got out to say our goodbyes.
The drivers had to do some clean-up as one of the dogs had gotten sick in her crate in the night and another had a mishap in the aisle. So, we had to stand in the cold for a bit until it was Cal's turn. Spencer was fighting tears and Cal, in true dog fashion, was oblivious, pulling this way and that on his leash trying to smell some important spot or another in the snow. They called for Cal. Spencer bravely walked him onto the truck. The rest of us followed and gave him a hug and pat on the head and told him to have a good ride and do us proud at school.
Then we left. Poor Spencer!! He was sobbing by then and when we got home I took him in my room and we had a good cry together on the bed. We talked about how sometimes good things are hard to do. I told him how brave he was and that lots of people in the world avoid doing things that are good because they seem too hard, but not him! Cal would have a good life doing what he was born and bred for and we could be glad we had a part in that.
Spencer was emotional off and on that day. It was Sunday so we went to church. He didn't think he could handle Primary with everyone asking where Cal was, so he came to Sunday School with Darrel and I. Unfortunately, some kind older lady in the ward happened to ask about the dog on our way out of class and then made matters worse by putting her arm around Spencer's shoulder, pulling him close and telling him how great he was while he cried. Spencer DOES NOT like attention from people he doesn't know well, and especially not in front of other people at church while he was crying. Sheesh! I knew she meant well, but you'd think people might know better. But, despite that and a few other hiccups, Spencer made it through the day. I thought he might need to miss school the next day, but he felt like he could go and we were relieved to see him pick back up with life and go on with only the occasional sad moment when something would remind him of Cal.
So, what now? Cal is in Boring, Oregon at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus. He has passed his physical exams and is currently on Phase 2 of 10 phases of training to be a working guide. He could still be "career changed", as they call it, if at any point in the training they feel he isn't suitable to be a guide, but so far so good! We'll have the opportunity if he graduates to travel to Oregon for the ceremony and present Cal to his new partner. They will have been working together on the campus for a few weeks and we'll get a chance to meet before the ceremony and see Cal again and hear how he's been doing and share some of our fun stories of Cal's puppyhood. So, we're cheering Cal on from Utah and hoping we'll be headed to Oregon in a few months to see how our Cal-pup turned out.
"The hard is the good." Spencer's birth grandfather says that's an old German saying, roughly translated. I'm so proud of Spencer for doing the good.
