Years of Summer: Lily's Story

by Bethanie Armstrong

  “I think that’s a great idea. You would be out of your house, and you could see where your classes will be held. I think that’ll work. How do you feel about that Lily?”

  I really wasn’t sure. I didn’t know if I was ready for that yet. Dave took my hand and squeezed it. “You will be fine Lily.”

  “Can we cross that bridge when we come to it or do I have to plan?”

  “We can cross that bridge when we come to it. Don’t worry.”

  * * * * * * *

  Over the next two weeks, Dave was better than his words. He called to check on me after each class and brought me everything I would need to get a transfer from UM to UNA. He even brought me the financial aid application and helped me get everything filled out. I was determined to finish college on my own, without help from Mom and Dad and staying at home and commuting to classes would take a big load off of the cost. Dave personally delivered all of my information to the appropriate parties. He was amazing.

  I did keep my end of the bargain and did everything he wanted me too. He even bought a pager (which was popular at the time for communication) so I would have a way of getting in touch with him if I ever needed to. He helped me more than anything. He gave me something more.

  A few days before my birthday, he called, but he called to talk to my mom. I thought that was really strange. He normally called to talk to me. I’ll admit I was even a little upset by that. Of course, he only talked to her for a minute or two and then she brought the phone to me.

  Dave was funny. When he would call me after his classes; it was like he was calling for a report. He would ask me what I observed that day, and then decide whether he was satisfied with it, and always ended our conversations with one question. “Am I bugging you to death yet?” That always made me laugh. I always answered no. Truth was he never bugged me. If he was looking to get out of what he had committed too, he was never going to, but he wasn’t looking to do that.

  It was Friday. Mom and Dad were going to have a little birthday party for me when they came home from work. Ally was coming home and Dave had come from his classes that day and just hung out. I thought I kept hearing a puppy whine, but I didn’t believe it, unless one of the neighbors had a new puppy. I just dismissed it. It wasn’t a cold day; it was rather mild, highs in the upper fifties, closer to sixty. The wind wasn’t blowing and it was sunny. Dave looked at me. “How long have you been inside?” I looked at my watch it had almost been two hours and I was feeling a little melancholy, feeling sleepy.

  “It’s been about two hours.”

  “Has your mail run yet?”

  “Yeah, probably.”

  “Let’s go get the mail.”

  “Dave, I’m tired.”

  “Sorry, Lil, don’t care. Time to get up and move.”

  I whined. “Dave.” He took my hand and pulled me up off the couch and took me outside. We went out the backdoor and the sunshine hit me square in the face, but it felt good. I just kind of stood there and let it warm me. Dave laughed.

  “I told you so.” I couldn’t help but laugh too. I could feel myself getting better, stronger even. I still had days when my emotions would control me, but those were becoming less. Sometimes it happened many times in one day, sometimes none at all. That was just the way it was.

  * * * * * * *

  On the days that I had one of those very emotional days, somehow Dave would know and he would just be there, giving me hope, helping me to realize that this would get better and then he would stay with me for the rest of the day, at least until Mom and Dad came home. He would force me to get up and move. He and Ally both made me promise that I would never go off and try anything again if I ever had those days. Dave would talk me through times like that when I paged him.

  If it was raining, he would walk with me out in it. We never did the going to campus on rainy days, because there were times when my being alone was just bad and Ally and Dave both were afraid that I might go into emotional meltdown when both of them were in class and neither could get to me. Imagine the rumors that would start. Ally Aldridge has an insane sister and Dave Jameson has a crazy friend. They would be ostracized. I thought about that, but they never did. I still opted to stay at home during rainy days, and on my birthday that year, Dave gave me something to take care of on those rainy days and also on the sunny ones too.

  * * * * * * *

  Ally pulled up as we were getting the mail out of the mailbox. She rolled down her window and leaned out. “Happy Birthday, sis.”

  “Thank you.” We kissed each other on the cheek and she drove on down the gravel drive.

  Dave pulled me too him, by squeezing my shoulders with one of his arms. “Happy Birthday by the way, I just realized I hadn’t told you that since I’ve been here.”

  “That’s okay, it’s just another year.”

  “Yes, another year you have been granted to make something of. Are you going to make something of it or let it slip by?”

  “Definitely make something of it.”

  He kissed me on the side of the head. “That’s my girl.” I let that sink in and decided I liked it, so I didn’t say anything to him about it. We helped Ally unload her car and carried the things upstairs. I took her clothes and started them in the wash. I had begun to do this the last time she was home and Mom started asking me to do things for her around the house while she was at work. It kept me busy. I enjoyed it and felt like I was slowly pulling my life back together.

  Mom and Dad showed up a couple of hours later with Mexican take out and an ice cream cake for my birthday. We ate and had cake and of course everyone sung happy birthday to me. Then Dave excused himself and I heard him go out the back door. “Mom, where did Dave go?”

  “He said he’d be back in a minute.”

  “Oh, okay.” I just waited on him to come back. A few minutes later Dave came back in, because I heard the back door shut. He walked into the kitchen with a box that wiggled and it was rather heavy. It was a huge box. He set it at my feet.

  “Happy Birthday, Lily.” I opened it and this perfect little golden retriever puppy popped its head out. It had the biggest brown eyes and a giant pink bow around its neck.

  “Oh Dave . . . When did you . . . How did you . . . It’s just beautiful.”

  “Well it is actually a girl, hence the pink bow, and her name is Sunshine. Her registered name is Sunny Summer Sunshine. She’s three months old.”

  “She is so precious. You remembered that day on the quad.” I picked her up and held her to me. It was love at first sight.

  “Yes, I did, sorry I couldn’t get the house for you, but I opted for the golden retriever in the backyard instead.” I felt the tears, but Sunshine wouldn’t let them come. She licked me all over my face and I couldn’t help but laugh instead of cry.

  I reached to hug Dave. “You are amazing. Thank you so much.”

  Dave laughed. “You’re very welcome. Everything you need for her is in your basement. You only have to provide the backyard.”

  “Dave, she must have cost a fortune.”

  “Lily, nothing is more important to me than your happiness and I thought she could help when Ally and I couldn’t be here. Friends help friends. That is just the way it works.”

  “But Dave you have done so much for me . . .”

  He put a quieting finger to my lips.

  “And I would do infinitely more if that’s what it takes. . .”

  There was an unspoken phrase.

  Chapter 10

  Sunshine became my distraction. Dave knew what he was doing. Suddenly I had something to take up my time and I didn’t have to remember to go out every two hours, because house training a golden retriever took me out every two hours, rain or shine. She was surprisingly easy to train though. Sometimes I wondered if Dave made up the rules in the Housetraining Guide for dogs. Maybe he did. It wouldn’t have surprised me.

  I kept the cordless phone with me because 90% of the time I was outside when Dave called in between classes to
check on me. I even took a trip to a new pet superstore by myself and was able to take Sunshine with me and she picked out her some toys and I bought them, of course I had to let Dave know where I would be so he didn’t freak out if I wasn’t there to answer the phone.

  Sunshine and I became best buddies. She was so sweet. I can honestly say I loved her. She spent the nights on my bed with me and if she had to go out in the middle of the night she would wake up and lick me in the face and I would take her out. She was more precious than anything.

  * * * * * * *

  One afternoon when Dave came in, he found I had fallen asleep on the couch, and Sunshine of course was piled on top of me. She was five months old and still puppy and she licked my face to wake me up. Dave was out that day for the start of Christmas break and Ally was on her way home for Christmas break too. Sunshine finally woke me up and I saw Dave standing there.

  “Well don’t you two look all cute and cozy laid up on the couch?”

  “Sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”

  “That’s fine, so what’re we going to do for the next two weeks, well three weeks actually. You start in January. Did you sign up for your classes yesterday? I tried to find you and I must have missed you or something.”

  “Yeah, I signed up for my classes. Dave, what about Sunshine? She missed me so much yesterday.”

  “Well I thought you would take her with you.”

  “Dave, I can’t take a dog with me to campus.”

  “Yeah, you really can.”

  “Explain how I could do that.”

  “Lily did you read any of the papers I brought with her?”

  “Well, no, why?”

  “Where are they?”

  “In my room, on my bookshelf.”

  “Go get them for me.”

  I didn’t know what Dave was doing. I couldn’t figure out why the papers were so important other than her AKC registration. I pulled out the envelope and brought it to Dave. He looked in the envelope and pulled out a letter. “You need to read this.” I took the letter and read it. The letterhead read “Therapeutic Pets, Inc.” and gave the address and phone number and everything. I read the letter.

  Dear Sir or Madam,

  Lily Grace Aldridge is the owner of a Therapeutic pet in training. Federal law grants rights to owners of service animals. The dog is registered under contract number 59021136. If you have any questions or inquiries as to Dog #21, Sunny Summer Sunshine—AKA Sunshine, please contact me at once. Thank you, Shelley Jameson.

  Dave looked at me. I was stunned. “The letter is in your file at school too. Aunt Shelley had it written up. It is a legal and binding document. Sunshine is a service dog in training, but you’re training her for yourself. Have you noticed how attuned she is to you and how when you get up she’s right beside you?”

  “Well, yeah, but I thought that was just because she was a golden retriever.”

  “Well it is and it isn’t. Aunt Shelley only accepts top of the line Labradors and Golden Retrievers as her service training dogs. She tests them with personality tests and other things and decides from there whether or not she can accept them into the training program. Sunshine was three months old when I gave her to you, because she had been training for a month. Aunt Shelley trains dogs to work mostly with elderly people, but she also trains them to work with people . . . now don’t take this wrong . . . but with people who are dealing with depression and panic attacks, and the like. I explained your situation to her and she found Sunshine for you. Please don’t be angry with me.”

  “You mean I get to take her with me to classes? She can stay with me at school?”

  Dave looked at me funny. “Well, yeah, you’re not mad?”

  “Dave, how can I be angry with someone who has given me my life back, service dog or not. I had no idea what you were doing when you gave her to me, but she has been such a blessing and to have you care that much about me to want to do that for me. I don’t have words to express how I feel at the moment.

  There are not enough good words in the English language to express my feelings toward you. You are a God-Send.

  I’m able to smile and laugh and enjoy my life again and it has taken me six months to get just part of that back. How in the world could I be angry with you?” I reached around his neck and hugged him. “I can’t thank you enough. Can I repay you for her, please? She had to have been expensive.”

  “Actually, Lily, Aunt Shelley gave her to me. She said if I would train her for you, I could give her to you. So Sunshine didn’t cost me anything. I’m so glad you’re getting better Lily. I was so worried about you.”

  “Dave, can I be nosy?”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “How much would Sunshine have cost if you weren’t family?”

  Dave grinned. “Upwards of two thousand dollars. Puppy and training and all.”

  “Oh my word.”

  “Yeah, so take good care of her.”

  “You know I will.”

  “Okay, Lil, we need to chat.”

  “About what?”

  “About next term. I had a two-fold reason for getting Sunshine for you. One, I won’t be on campus next term. I start my student teaching at Huntsville Elementary, and two, Sunshine is a working dog. She works for you. There are a few rules to having one. No one is allowed to pet her, except you. People make that mistake all the time. Most people know that if it’s a service animal they’re to ask first, but some don’t. I know that next term is going to be difficult for you and probably if you ever have one of your panicky moments, Sunshine will know it before you and that might scare you, but just let it happen. Sunshine will help you. . . . You’re having one right now aren’t you.” I just stared at him. I couldn’t get past Dave saying he wasn’t going to be on campus next term.

  “Do you see what she’s doing to you?” I took notice then of what Sunshine was doing. “See how she’s forcing you to pet her head and nuzzling you to feel her. Touch her and watch what happens.”

  I did with both of my hands and she put her front paws across my lap and laid her head down. “Lil, right now she’s trying to keep you calm, now let her feel your pulse, lay your neck against her head, like you were hugging her. I did and she started licking my neck. I have never been one to like being nuzzled by a dog, but Sunshine was surprisingly calming to me. I don’t know if it was her rhythm or the softness of her tongue, but what she was doing was working. I had my mind on her and felt my panic edge away.

  “That’s how she works.”

  “Dave do I have to give her back?”

  “No, you don’t have to give her back. She is yours for life. Now come January I’ll go pick up Sunshine’s service dog vest and harness. Neither will hurt her. They are both soft. Her harness is just a normal harness with a shorter cloth loop leash. The week after Christmas you’ll finish training with her at Aunt Shelley’s clinic.”

  I almost panicked again, but Sunshine calmed me down.

  “Don’t worry, Lily; I’ll be coming with you. I’ve been working there every summer since I was sixteen and when I started college I started working there on every break we had. I have seen these dogs at work and it’s amazing. When she’s not working she can be a normal dog, when she is working she knows it, especially when she has her service dog vest and harness on. Lily, I know you can do this and with Sunshine being there I won’t feel as nervous leaving you alone.” My tears started and Sunshine was right there, calming me. She was truly a gifted dog.

  “Dave, I didn’t realize you weren’t going to be on campus next term. I’m afraid of you not being there.”

  He sat on the couch with me and took me to him. “I know Lil, but you’ll be okay. I promise you’ll get better. It just takes time to heal.”

  “Dave, what does that mean for us? Are things going to change? Will I see you like I do now?”

  “Yes, it will only be later in the day than you’re used to, but I’ll still be here every day. That will not change. Do you mind showing me
your schedule?”

  “No, I’ll go get it.”

  I stood up and Sunshine was right there walking with me. Now that I knew exactly what she was it made me understand her much better. I believed that during the night when she would lick my face to let her out, that she really didn’t need to go out. She was keeping me from having my nightmares about Jace, because there had not been any since my birthday.

  I began questioning things, things about Jace. I pictured him in my head as I thought his name without the all out emotional war that normally came with those thoughts. Would he have done this for me had things been turned to where it was Dave that I lost?

  I wasn’t expecting the feelings that came with that thought. That thought forced me to my knees and brought an onslaught of emotion far worse than I would have ever imagined. The thought of losing Dave instead of Jace turned into an emotional meltdown, to the point where Sunshine was actually whimpering and trying to calm me. I fell back against my bookshelf and wailed. Sunshine started whining and laid her body completely in my lap. Dave came running into my room and saw me in the floor. He came down on his knees to me. “Lily girl, what’s wrong?” I threw my arms around his neck.

  “Please, Dave . . . please don’t ever leave me.”

  “Lily, I wasn’t even thinking that; please tell me what’s wrong.”

  All I could do was repeat the same thing. “Please don’t ever leave me.”

  He suddenly had this very worried look on his face, like he was going to have to tell me something he would rather not, fearing what it might do to me. He looked me in the eyes completely confused, but promised me. “Okay, I won’t ever leave you.” It was strange what I felt at that moment, I didn’t recognize it.

  Sunshine sat next to me and laid her head up against my heart and rubbed her head under my chin until I took my arms away from Dave and put them around her. Dave sat there in the floor with me and just smoothed my hair away from my face.