Puffin 'N Muffin

In August, when I visited my sister and mother in Canada, my mother's wish to have a doggy came true. She has Alzheimer Disease and is in a nursing home. On numerous occasions she has expressed that she would like to have a doggy.

On a whim, Vicki and I found ourselves at a farm surveying what looked like two mini fluffy dusters skimming blades of grass. Upon inquiring, we learned that these energy balls were Toy Poodles, and that they were sisters. SISTERS! POODLES! We have never been 'poodle people', but the sisters increasingly enchanted us with their black and white markings and playful behavior. By late afternoon, Vicki had adopted Muffin and we headed home. En route, we joked about how the gentleness of Muffin seemed to resemble Vicki in nature, and that the sister left behind had a more rambunctious streak like me. It seemed a shame that we took one without the other.

Muffin, Vicki, and I spent a few fun-filled days together prior to my return to New York. Two weeks passed as I listened vicariously to tales of Muffin and how wonderful she was. We wondered about the fate of Muffin's sister until the day Vicki proposed that I adopt her, if she was available. Fortunately, Muffin's sister was still at the farm, so I quickly made arrangements to travel back to Toronto and bring her into our family.

Puffin is an absolute treasure at two pounds, seven ounces. She has a winsome personality and is quickly adapting to life in the big city. Puffin enjoyed her first cross-border trip and looks forward to a fun-filled future of travel with her parents, Julia and Demetris.

Both Puffin and Muffin have given great joy to our mother, and to us. They have evoked special words of affection and emotion we thought had vanished to Alzheimer Disease.