"Harvey's Graduation"

     "Well Harvey, you made it pup," I whisper quietly as I reach down to stroke the head of my yellow Labrador Retriever.  It's been five and a half months since I returned him to the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus in San Rafael for his formal training.  I take a deep breath and lift his leather harness as I prepare to walk out onto the stage.  This is the day I've been waiting and praying for.  My puppy successfully completed class and is now graduating.  It's almost unfathomable that the little puppy I raised for a year has fulfilled his purpose and is now going to be a real guide dog, for a real person.. Even though everyone else on stage and in the audience is getting teary eyed, my emotions are manifested in a smile beaming with pride and happiness.  As I listen to the thankful words of Harvey's new owner, Susie (a blind, 3rd grade teacher from Indiana), I realize the gratitude she feels toward my family and I for raising her new companion.  It also sinks in for the first time what an indescribable affect Harvey will have on her future life.  I smile and say a few words, then officially present my puppy to his new partner....giving him up for the last time.  I look out at my family in the crowd amidst the hundreds of smiling faces with weepy eyes...and I know at this point that is was all worth it.  The late nights up with my puppy, the training, the meetings, all my time and effort, and worst of all, the separation, had been worth it.  This experience was what changed me.  Meeting the new owner of my little puppy, who had become a perfectly trained guide dog, added another dimension to my perception of this project.  It's been five years now that I've been involved as a volunteer for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and that day will always stick out in my mind as the beginning of my inseparable commitment to this wonderful organization.  More importantly, however, that day marked my realization of my capacity to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Harvey didn't graduate alone on that summer afternoon, because I too graduated...and Susie wasn't the only one receiving the gift of sight, because I also gained a new perspective through new eyes.