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<TITLE>Re: [Cagdu] Roselle -- a sad day</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Sorry to hear this Mike. She was a great lady!<BR>
<BR>
Best<BR>
<BR>
Jonathan<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Sent from my iPhone<BR>
<BR>
On Jun 27, 2011, at 10:14 PM, "Michael Hingson" <info@michaelhingson.com> wrote:<BR>
<BR>
> GOODBYE TO A HERO<BR>
><BR>
> It is strange for me to be writing this article while I have feelings of<BR>
> both sadness and joy in my heart. Nevertheless, it is something which must<BR>
> be done.<BR>
><BR>
> I have the solemn obligation to inform you that my hero guide dog, Roselle,<BR>
> who was with me in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, passed away<BR>
> last evening, Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 8:52 PM. I am sad, of course,<BR>
> because I will miss Roselle so very much, more than any of my other guide<BR>
> dogs. I write with joy because Roselle is in a better place, no longer<BR>
> feeling pain, while I get to have so many fond memories of her.<BR>
><BR>
> Roselle was born on March 12, 1998 at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San<BR>
> Rafael, California. I heard right from the start that she was quite a<BR>
> mischievous little puppy. She went to Santa Barbara, California to be<BR>
> raised by several puppy raising families. Kay and Ted Stern had the joy and<BR>
> pleasure of spending the longest amount of raiser time with her. Kay and<BR>
> Ted introduced her to airplane flying, New York, snow, and even the theater.<BR>
> I must say that I think the culture did rub off on her.<BR>
><BR>
> After her time with puppy raisers she went back to Guide Dogs for the Blind<BR>
> for training. I think I first met her on November 22, 1999. It was obvious<BR>
> from the very beginning that we were a perfect match. Roselle was my fifth<BR>
> guide dog. I could tell that she would be an excellent guide from our very<BR>
> first walk together. What took me a few days to discover was that Roselle<BR>
> was also quite a character; I constantly referred to her as a pixie. Almost<BR>
> from the first night we spent together I found that Roselle was great at<BR>
> stealing socks. She didn't chew them up; she just carried them around and<BR>
> then hid them somewhere only to bring them out later just to taunt me. She<BR>
> was always willing to give them up undamaged and ready-to-wear although a<BR>
> little bit damp. Her tail wagged through the whole experience. In fact,<BR>
> her tail hardly stop wagging during the almost 12 years I knew her. During<BR>
> my first week with Roselle I also discovered that she was a loud snorer.<BR>
> The Stearns told me later that she could snore with the best of them.<BR>
><BR>
> We came home to New Jersey on December 2, 1999. Later that evening she met<BR>
> my retired guide, Linnie. Linnie and Roselle seemed a bit uncomfortable<BR>
> with each other that night and into the middle of the next day. I decided<BR>
> that this awkwardness had gone on long enough and brought out a rope tug<BR>
> bone. I made each of them take an end and I grabbed the middle of the rope.<BR>
> They started off by teaming up and tugging against me. After about 20<BR>
> seconds of this with mouths inching up toward my fingers from both sides I<BR>
> release the bone and let them go at it alone. From that moment on they were<BR>
> inseparable until Linnie died on July 4, 2002.<BR>
><BR>
> On September 11, 2001 Roselle and I were in our office on the 78th floor of<BR>
> Tower One of the World Trade Center when the tower was struck by American<BR>
> Airlines flight 11 which had been hijacked and was being controlled by<BR>
> terrorists. Our escape from that tower as well as the collapse of Tower Two<BR>
> is well known and, in fact, is the subject of Thunder Dog, a book written by<BR>
> me and Susy Flory, which will be in bookstores soon as well as be available<BR>
> on my website. All I want to say here is that Roselle did an incredible<BR>
> job. She remained poised and calm through the entire day. She gave kisses<BR>
> and love wherever she could and she worked when she needed to do so. I<BR>
> would not be alive today if it weren't for Roselle. I cannot say enough<BR>
> about the incredible job she did. What Roselle did on 9/11 is a testimony<BR>
> not only to the Stern's and the others who raised her, but also to her<BR>
> trainer, Todd Jurek, the entire GDB training staff, and all the people who<BR>
> make up the wonderful organization of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Most of<BR>
> all, what Roselle did that day and in fact every day she and I were together<BR>
> is nothing less than the strongest possible evidence I can provide of the<BR>
> value of teamwork and trust.<BR>
><BR>
> After 9/11, in fact in mid-January 2002, after Roselle and I had spent<BR>
> countless hours speaking to the media, and at several events including GDB's<BR>
> Holiday Luncheon, and even riding on a float in the Rose Parade on New<BR>
> Year's Day, Roselle and I were offered a position at Guide Dogs for the<BR>
> Blind to serve as the National Public Affairs Director for the organization.<BR>
> Over the next 6 1/2 years Roselle and I traveled hundreds of thousands of<BR>
> miles throughout the United States and the rest of the world speaking about<BR>
> trust and teamwork, guide dogs, and blindness in general in order to help<BR>
> people understand that the real handicap of blindness is not a lack of<BR>
> eyesight but a lack of proper education about blindness. Roselle took every<BR>
> trip with poise and confidence whether it was to Kansas or Korea. She was<BR>
> an incredible traveler and once even traveled from San Francisco to New<BR>
> Zealand, a 23.5 hour trip, without needing to go to the bathroom once. I<BR>
> did not fare so well.<BR>
><BR>
> In 2004, Roselle was diagnosed with immune mediated thrombocytopenia, a<BR>
> condition which caused her body to attack her blood platelets. Through<BR>
> medications we were able to control the disease and Roselle was able to<BR>
> continue guiding. As usual, she worked like a trooper and never once<BR>
> exhibited pain nor discomfort.<BR>
><BR>
> When Linnie died in 2002 Roselle lost her major tug companion. For the next<BR>
> four years I mainly had to take up the slack as it were. We did care for<BR>
> some foster dogs from GDB, and in 2003 we adopted Panama, a 12 1/2-year-old<BR>
> career change dog from Guide Dogs. Panama wasn't a great tugging partner<BR>
> because she didn't have the strength to keep up with Roselle. In 2006,<BR>
> however, when Panama died at the age of 15 we decided to become a breeder<BR>
> keeper for GDB. Fantasia came to live with us. She was just two years old<BR>
> and was quite able to give as well as she got from Roselle. Again, Roselle<BR>
> found an inseparable friend and made the most of it. She still swiped the<BR>
> occasional pair of socks, but Fantasia was her main interest. Roselle<BR>
> taught Fantasia how to bark every time the doorbell rang and how to beg for<BR>
> treats, although I must admit treat begging came natural to both dogs<BR>
> especially when 8:00 PM rolled around.<BR>
><BR>
> In February 2007 during a normal checkup we learned that some of Roselle's<BR>
> kidney values were changing for the worse. It was decided that the<BR>
> medication regimen on which Roselle had been placed as well as the stress of<BR>
> guiding were the causes for her kidney value changes. Roselle retired from<BR>
> guide work in March of 2007. It was a sad day for all of us, but Roselle<BR>
> took it in stride and soon made it very clear that retirement suited her<BR>
> well. After retirement Roselle loved to take walks most of the time, she<BR>
> loved her meals, her treats, playing Battle of the Bone with Fantasia and<BR>
> later with my current guide dog Africa, and of course barking at the ringing<BR>
> of the doorbell. Roselle was the loudest barker of the bunch. I have fond<BR>
> memories of Roselle, Fantasia, and Africa all tugging on the same rope, all<BR>
> battling each other across our living room giving no care to whatever was in<BR>
> their way.<BR>
><BR>
> In 2010, Roselle began exhibiting some chronic back pain. In March of 2010,<BR>
> while attending and speaking at the annual convention of the American Animal<BR>
> Hospital Association Roselle met Doctor Robin Downing, an expert in dog pain<BR>
> management. Robin noticed Roselle's pain and while I gave three consecutive<BR>
> workshops she spent time with Roselle. I think they got to know each other<BR>
> pretty well that day because right after the workshops Doctor Downing, right<BR>
> there on the floor in the front of the conference room, gave Roselle a back<BR>
> adjustment which clearly helped Roselle and made her back feel somewhat<BR>
> better. We immediately upon our return home took Roselle to her vet and<BR>
> started her on a treatment of acupuncture, some other back adjustments, and<BR>
> herbs which altogether mostly eliminated her chronic back pain.<BR>
><BR>
> Earlier this year we noticed that Roselle was beginning to have a harder<BR>
> time standing up on her own, although once she was standing she loved to<BR>
> continue her daily walks. She stopped playing tug bone with Fantasia and<BR>
> Africa, but she still enjoyed lying in the sun, eating, kissing everybody in<BR>
> sight, and barking at the doorbell. Her ability to stand on her own grew<BR>
> worse throughout the first half of this year.<BR>
><BR>
> Last week she began exhibiting some other signs of distress and pain. On<BR>
> Friday, June 24, 2011 she had to be taken to her vet as she had begun<BR>
> vomiting blood. It is suspected that somehow she had developed a stomach<BR>
> ulcer. Also, it was discovered that her red blood cell count had dropped<BR>
> significantly. Friday evening she was taken to the Pet Emergency and<BR>
> Specialty Center where she was well known and would receive over night care.<BR>
> She had spent many hours with Doctor Harb and the other staff working<BR>
> through her IMT issues. They had also helped her in January 2009 when she<BR>
> developed gastric torsion and had to undergo emergency surgery to untwist<BR>
> her stomach.<BR>
><BR>
> Yesterday, Sunday, June 26, we visited her in the evening only to see her<BR>
> condition continuing to deteriorate. She was in a lot of pain and<BR>
> discomfort. There was no one cause for her discomfort, but Doctor Bowie of<BR>
> the PESC felt that some of her immune mediated related conditions had<BR>
> returned in addition to the possible stomach ulcer. After much consultation<BR>
> and discussion we all came to agreement that the best thing we could do to<BR>
> help Roselle was to assist her in crossing the Rainbow Bridge and go to her<BR>
> friends Linnie and Panama. At 8:52 last evening she crossed the bridge and,<BR>
> I am sure, is now more comfortable and has all the doorbells she wants to<BR>
> bark at.<BR>
><BR>
> How can I possibly say goodbye to a dog who is done all Roselle has done and<BR>
> who lived life to the fullest? How can I ever do justice to her life, work,<BR>
> and memory? Roselle has been one of the greatest blessings and gifts I have<BR>
> ever had the joy to let into my life. God surely broke the mold when she<BR>
> came into the world. Including Africa I have had seven guide dogs and also<BR>
> I have had the opportunity to see thousands of them at work. Roselle is<BR>
> unique without a doubt. She worked through the most trying time in our<BR>
> nation’s history, and she was right there unflinching for all of it. Her<BR>
> spirit never diminished and, in fact, grew stronger through the years after<BR>
> 9-11 which helps me be a better person today.<BR>
><BR>
> I thank God for the time Karen and I were allowed to have the wonderful<BR>
> creature which was Roselle with us. She touched everyone whom she met and<BR>
> I'm sure everyone’s path she crossed is better for knowing her. She kissed<BR>
> firefighters in the World Trade Center as we descended the stairs. She gave<BR>
> unconditional love to so many people wherever she went. She inspired us all<BR>
> and will continue to do so.<BR>
><BR>
> We are about to form the Roselle's Dream Foundation. This has been in the<BR>
> works for several months. The purposes of the foundation include educating<BR>
> people about blindness, and as donations permit we shall assist blind<BR>
> children and later blind adults in obtaining some of the technologies which<BR>
> will assist them in learning and working in the world. Shortly the website<BR>
> www.rosellefoundation.org will be up and running. I hope people will honor<BR>
> Roselle by making donations in her memory to the Roselle's Dream Foundation<BR>
> to help us in our work.<BR>
><BR>
> Roselle, your memory will always be with us and I know your spirit will<BR>
> continue to touch us all. I know you're watching and you’re nearby us.<BR>
> Help us all to be better people and dogs, but most of all be yourself<BR>
> wherever you are. I hope you're feeling better now. You have set a high<BR>
> bar of love for all of us. Be at peace and know that we shall try to love<BR>
> each other as much as you loved each of us on this earth.<BR>
><BR>
> The Michael Hingson Group, INC.<BR>
> “Speaking with Vision”<BR>
> Michael Hingson, President<BR>
> (415) 827-4084<BR>
> info@michaelhingson.com<BR>
> To learn more about my upcoming book, speaking topics and speaking<BR>
> availability please visit www.michaelhingson.com<BR>
> Thunder Dog is now available for early ordering on Amazon!!!<BR>
> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Dog-Blind-Triumph-Ground/dp/140020304X/ref=sr_">http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Dog-Blind-Triumph-Ground/dp/140020304X/ref=sr_</A><BR>
> 1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289090352&sr=1-3<BR>
><BR>
><BR>
> for info on the new KNFB Reader Mobile, visit:<BR>
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><BR>
><BR>
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