Gift mugs

The passing of my friend Susan’s first guide dog was not a happy event. Louise had been fading for months and hadn’t actually worked in some time. She had come to view me as her savior because with Susan’s husband Bjorn working in Japan, my pickup truck and I came to represent in her doggie mind both the last comfortable place before a sojourn at the vet’s and welcome rescue after. She was fairly elderly when I met her and when she’d gone, Susan buried her ashes in the section of their backyard that has ever since been known as the Louise Garden.

Her next guide dog Nellie quickly became a fixture in all our lives and she served Susan well as friend and companion and safety director until the day she couldn’t stand up straight and it turned out she’d had  a doggie stroke. She recovered but she never worked again and so the day came when Susan brought home her new guide dog, Ynez. While Bjorn picked Susan and Ynez up at the airport, I took Nellie to the park by the library to await their arrival. It is important for the retired guide dog to accept the role transference to the new guide dog right from the beginning of their relationship and this is a lot easier if they meet each other for the first time away from home turf.

Of course, Ynez and Nellie got on famously from first rude sniff and Nellie had no problem passing the harness to her new friend. Nellie became Bjorn’s constant companion for the rest of her life and Ynez picked up where she’d left off at Susan’s side. And now seven years later, it’s Ynez who is retiring.

Each of these dogs gave and received unconditional love while providing Susan with a service she needed and could receive in no other way. And each of them contributed greatly to the lives of all the students Susan enriched through her work as an advocate for students living with disabilities.

I got to thinking about this because of the cup I happened to pull out of the cupboard for my coffee this morning. It’s emblazoned with the logo of The Seeing Eye, the non-profit in New Jersey where each of Susan’s canine buddies received their professional training. Susan brought it back for me because she knows I like souvenir mugs.

I received a Goofy mug from Daughter One when she first went to work for Disney and there’s an MIT Dad mug I owe to Daughter Two remembering my birthday. Several served as honoraria from teaching gigs at non-profits in places like Bremerton and Pensacola and Huron. The one I use at work commemorates an infamous hack (MIT-speak for an epic prank). The Turvis insulated mugs with our initials came from Mary’s mom.

We have our nice matched eight that we use for more formal occasions but in the cupboard we go to each morning, you’d be hard pressed to find more than two alike. And just about every one of them has meaning to us. This morning, I sipped my coffee and thought about Susan and her dogs.

You can keep your fine china. Give me a gift mug any time.

I can’t prove the coffee tastes better in a mug that has a history. But then, don’t try to convince me it doesn’t. I like gift mugs.