at the Waiting at the Door

Waiting at the Door  

By Barbara J. Crocker
My grandmother became a widow in 1970. Shortly after that
we went to the animal shelter to pick out a puppy to keep her pany. Grandma decided on a little terrier that had a reddish-brown spot above each eye. Because of these spots
the dog was p
romptly named Penny.
Grandma and Penny quickly became very attached to each other
but that attachment grew much stronger about three years later when Grandma had a stroke. Grandma could no longer work
so when she came home from the hospital
she and Penny were constant panions.
After her stroke
it became a real problem for Grandma to let Penny in and out because the door was at the bottom of a flight of stairs. So a mechanism using a rope and pulley was installed from the back door to a handle at the top of the stairs. Grandma just had to pull the handle to open and close the door. If the store was out of Penny's favorite dog food
Grandma would make one of us cook Penny browned beef with diced potatoes in it. I can remember teasing my grandmother that she loved that dog better than she loved her family.
As the years passed
Grandma and Penny became inseparable. Grandma's old house could be filled to the brim with people
but if Grandma went to take her nap
Penny walked along beside her and stayed by her side until she awoke. As Penny aged
she could no longer jump up on the bed to lay next to Grandma
so she laid on the rug beside the bed. If Grandma went into the bathroom
Penny would hobble along beside her
wait outside the door and acpany her back to the bed or chair. Grandma never went anywhere without her faithful panion by her side.
The time came when both my grandmother and Penny's health were failing fast. Penny couldn't get around very well
and Grandma had been hospitalized several times. My uncle and I lived with Grandma
so Penny was never left alone
even when Grandma was in the hospital. During these times
Penny sat at the window looking out for the car bringing Grandma home and would excitedly wait at the door when Grandma came through it. Each homeing was a grand reunion beeen the o.
On Christmas Day in 1985
Grandma was again taken to the hospital. Penny
as usual
sat watching out the window for the car bringing Grandma home. Two mornings later when the dog woke up
she couldn't seem to work out the stiffness in her hips as she usually did. The same morning
she began having seizures. At age fifteen
we knew it was time. My mother and aunt took her to the veterinarian and stayed with her until the end.
Now the big dilemma was whether to tell Grandma while she was still in the hospital or wait. The decision was made to tell her while she was in the hospital because when we pulled up at the house
the first thing Grandma would look for was her beloved Penny watching out the window and then happily greeting her at the door. Grandma shed some tears but said she knew that it had to be done so Penny wouldn't suffer.
That night while still in the hospital
Grandma had a massive heart attack. The doctors frantically worked on her but could not revive her. After fifteen years of loving panionship
Grandma and Penny passed away within a few hours of each other. God had it all worked out – Penny was waiting at door when Grandma came Home.