Home is Where the Dog is

I never met anyone like Harry.

As soon as I entered Harry’s room he was so excited that he started to flop around in his bed like a fish out of water.

Without delay, I jumped on Harry’s bed and crawled up his chest and stopped when I came to this blue tube protruding out of his throat. Harry had tubes coming out of every part of his body. Nonetheless, Harry was smiling and elated to see a dog.

I kept staring at the blue tube in Harry’s throat and tilting my head in wonderment. That seemed to make Harry laugh.

When Harry spoke, his voice sounded like a muffled machine box and a twangy sound came from the tube as he said, “Hey dog, I bet you never saw anything like this before.”

Harry was right, this was a first for me.

“Please take my picture with the dog,” Harry begged my Mom. Harry explained that while he was in the intensive care unit (ICU) he was taking medications that made him hallucinate. Apparently Harry kept hallucinating that the ICU was run by dogs. Harry is my kind of guy!

My Mom found an old poloroid camera in the Volunteer Office and I proudly posed with Harry for a photo. After the picture developed, Harry held it in one hand and I curled up next to him so he could pet me with the other hand. As Harry was stroking my back and admiring the picture he said, “Ah, now this feels like home.”

For some people home is a place, but for Harry it was the feeling of a warm dog curling up next to him in his hospital bed. I guess the adage should be "Home is where the dog is."