I have a 5 year old girl in my elementary school class whose (single) mom passed away. I went to visit the family a couple days later to pay my condolences. I offered the PAWS services to help the little girl cope. They said they would call. They never did.
When the child returned to school after the funeral, she never spoke one word about her mother to the children in the room. She never spoke of her mother to the adults in the class, either.
However, later that week, Keely came in to visit the class and listen to children read. The little girl did not seem to want to read. She had a book. She opened the book. But she just sat there petting the therapy dog continuously. I said to her, “You don’t feel like reading today, do you?” She looked at me. She smiled and shook her head no. I said, “That’s okay. You can just pet and talk to Keely if you like”.
Then she began to talk to Keely. She talked about her mom dying. She talked about some fun times she and her mom had together. She talked about a lot of people being sad at her house. She told Keely that she missed her mom but her mom-mom is taking care of her. She then said to me, “I wish I had a dog like Keely.”
That day was a hard day for me as a teacher, but a great day as a PAWS Therapy team member. I hope that I never have to experience a situation like this again with a student in my class. But if I do, I am sure I can count on Keely to come through for us. – Kathy Potts & Keely – November 2011