A Season for Everything

As we enter the warmth and green of spring, having turned the final corner on winter and its short and dark days, I’m reminded that there is a season for everything and a special time for each and every life.

Happily, we celebrated the recent birth of the C-26 litter – five females and three males – Fidelco’s 627th litter of German Shepherd Guide Dog puppies. Sadly, we shared the conclusion of another noble working life with the passing of Fidelco Guide Dog “E.T.” Perhaps these souls passed one another on their journey? I believe they did
because for every time in life there is a purpose.

Fidelco’s life-changing mission would not be possible without the financial support of our donors. As a tribute to you, I’m sharing a very special email that we received from Fidelco client “Jay M.” It is a loving tribute to his Guide Dog and to all of you who helped to make their partnership a reality.

Eliot D. Russman
CEO and Executive Director

Dear Fidelco Family,

With deep sadness I am writing to notify Fidelco of the loss of…”E.T.”, my beloved guide dog for the past ten years. I retired E.T…due to medical reasons: diminishing eyesight, hearing, [and] lasting effects of major abdominal surgery to remove a large tumor.

E.T. also had a stroke this past summer and never fully recovered from it. At that point in her life she greatly lost her physical stability and ability to make normal physical biomechanical judgments.

My wife, our young son and I loved her through it. She held strong and had been doing her best to get through each day. I made a quality of life decision, that is beyond description to articulate here, to enable her to comfortably pass on to her spot beside my other two Fidelco angels, “Tasha” and “Petra.”

Fidelco is a remarkable and special organization with a mission that is so liberating for blind people. I will always be grateful and thankful to Fidelco for providing such happiness via the Guide Dogs; these wonderful dogs that enable the freedom and mobility treasured by blind people.

Here are a few memories about E.T. and the remarkable gifts she gave to my family and me:

As a consultant for the U.S. government I travel about 75% of the time, and E.T. has visited 35 states.

E.T. carried our flowers around her neck at our wedding. She waited patiently outside the delivery room while my son was born, and witnessed his first hours into the world.

Despite ten years of firm discussions, she always has enjoyed zipping around the house after our cat, though I think the cat was chasing her most of the time.

E.T. mastered the double fist pump; whenever she wanted your attention off-duty, she would pose, double-paw pump the floor and cock her head to one side, tail wagging. It is a memory we will always remember.

E.T. has been a blessing to my family and me and with sad, but proud memories, I ask her to go with our deepest love and to keep her puppy spirit bright.

Sincerely,
Jay M.

John Pimentel is one of three clients whose Fidelco German Shepherd Guide Dogs were provided by a generous grant from the Aetna Foundation in 2012.