Emmi in Action

Emmi visiting a memory care facility. She always made people feel like she was there for them.

Emmi had a true gift for working with people. She knew what each person needed and just who needed her. She made every person she interacted with feel special. We visited one skilled nursing facility monthly. Most of the residents had physical disabilities there so they remembered when the dogs were visiting. One gentleman, Steven, waited by the door and yelled “Emily’s here!” when we came in. One of the caregivers told me that he headed down to wait by the door for us after his shower and breakfast. He is was usually waiting over an hour. She said it was the highlight of his month. Another woman would cry as she pet Emmi because she misses her dog. She always thanked me and said it helped to have Emmi to pet. Another resident had her daughter purchase dog treats for the therapy dogs and couldn't wait to give them to them. I would give her one (we don't let anyone else feed the dogs as a precaution). Emmi always knew she was getting a treat when she went into Stella's room. There was a woman there who was non-responsive and didn't interact with staff or even show that she was aware of the environment but Emmi would put her head in her lap and she would pet her. Tears would stream down her face as she pet Emmi and Emmi would keep her head on her lap until she stopped. Another resident, George looked forward to petting Emmi and telling me about the dogs he had in the past. All of their photos were on his wall. Janet loved petting Emmi and was always surprised by how much Emmi liked her. She would ask me each time "why does Emmi like me"? She was so happy Emmi liked her but wondered why. I always told her Emmi knew when someone was good and that was why she liked her. That always made Janet happy. This facility was quite a drive from my house and I kept planning to stop our visits as there were several other teams visiting. But when we missed a month, so many said how much they had missed Emmi and Steven said he was so worried something had happened to her. During that visit, at least14 residents said they had missed her and were so glad she was back. I was thanked over and over for bringing her and for making their month better. As we walked out, we heard "Merry Christmas Emmi", "We love you Emmi", "Thank you for bringing Emmi", "See you next month Emmi".

So we continued to drive out to Holly Residential. I think Emmi enjoyed it as much as the residents did.