When the Work is Done

With the Christmas lights twinkling to the left of me, I opened a small present. Just one tiny box, what could be so special inside? I pull out a folded piece of paper and open it. Concert tickets! I look up at my mom in amazement. Tickets to Casting Crowns, one of our favorite bands. Then I realize the date, April 28, 2023. I will have to wait four months for this concert. Well tough poopy butts, it’s going to be a long four months. 

The night finally arrives, we are going to the concert! I walk in the doors and see a ginormous crowd. I grab ahold of my Zadie’s (service dog) guide strap and work my way toward our seats. I don’t know where I’m going so I let my mom lead the way. Front row seats diagonal from the stage. We settle in and wait for the music to start. The opening acts were Ben Fuller and We Are Messengers. I don’t know any of Ben Fuller’s music so I use this as an opportunity to go look at the souvenirs. I end up buying two shirts and a sweat shirt. I make my way back to my seat just as We Are Messengers is about to come on. I absolutely love their music so I was one of the first people up dancing and worshiping.

Pause the story. I want you to understand our seating arrangements. We have front row seats but they are lifted off the ground. The seats are so close together that Mom and I barely fit, let along Zadie. I have her jump up on the ledge where our feet go and tell her to “Under” both me and my mom’s legs. She squeezed in and fell asleep. Our area was so small that I decided to stand on the floor to give Zadie an little bit more room. Now, let’s get back to the story.

We sing, dance, and worship throughout the whole concert. Zadie ends up sleeping through almost the entire concert and woke up right before the last song. When the concert was over, I look at my mom and say “That was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to”. She agrees and we gather our stuff so we can leave. I look down at Zadie and I can just see in her eyes all of her energy. She had been working since about 5pm (and it was now almost 11pm) so she was ready to burst with energy. I tell her to heel and she gets nice and tight on my right leg. We make our way outside and decide to have some fun. Zadie was such a good girl that I think she deserves a reward. I take her vest off and tell her to sit and focus, which means look at me. I tell her “Okay, zoomies!” and this is when the fun really begins.

She takes off onto the grass and starts spinning. She runs in circles over and over and over again. I am bent over laughing my head off because of how funny she looks. Her ears are pulled back, head lifted high, and her butt dropped low. She runs in this position for what feels like five minutes. Both Mom and I can’t keep it together and I’m now standing with my legs crossed trying not to pee my pants. People walking by start laughing as well because Zadie just didn’t stop running in circles. After another few minutes she finally trots over to me, showing me that she feels she’s ready to work again. I tell her “Good girl, but you’re all done working, go run”. She gets ready to run again but hesitates, waiting for me to say her release word. I tell her “Okay” and she takes off to my mom who is on the other side of the grass. Just as she reaches my mom I call her name and she turns around and runs to me. Once she’s about to get to me, my mom calls her name and Zadie runs back to her. 

We do this for another five or ten minutes when two women come up to me and asks to say hi to her. I call Zadie over to me and have her sit. I tell the women they can come say hi and they reach out to pat her. Zadie is still so excited that she can’t keep her butt down so she starts doing this hop in a sitting position. We all start laughing and I have tears coming down my face. Once they were done saying hi to her, Zadie starts running in circles again and I talk to the women. All of a sudden, Zadie comes and literally tries to jump into my arms. All four legs came off the ground. I don’t see her coming so I just get this sudden blow to the stomach. Zadie is 75 pounds so I go stumbling backwards, bent over in pain from the hit. It knocks the wind out of me and when I stand up straight to catch my breath, I see my mom laughing so hard she is crying. Zadie is just sitting next to me like a good girl as if nothing happened.

I finish talking to the women and walk back to the car. I pull out Zadie’s bowl and give her some water. She drinks an entire Poland Springs water bottle and I put her in the car and we drive home. We get home just before 12am and as soon as Zadie walks in the door, she heads straight to her water bowl. She drinks all of it so I fill it back up and she drinks all of it again. Once again my mom and I are just standing there laughing because she never drinks this much water. I give her a few minutes to let the water work through her and then I take her out to pee. She pees for what feels like an eternity, even though she just peed thirty minutes before. 

When she finally finishes peeing, she comes inside and walks straight to her crate. She opens the door (yes, she knows how to open the door to her crate) and crawls in. I said “What about your stuffy? Go get a stuffy”. She runs out of her crate and comes trotting back with her favorite stuffed animal. I give her a kiss and close the door to her crate.

I walk out of my room to get ready for bed, laughing at Zadie. I tell my mom what she did and she starts laughing to. I change into my pjs, take my meds, and crawl into bed. As I turn off my lamp and roll over, I smile to myself, thinking about how the night went. I roll over once more and whisper “I love you Zadie”.

Featured image by kpurrington23