When Visiting Nurses hired me, I was kind of lost. Ever feel that way? No matter how many fire hydrants you’ve marked in life, you can never find your way. Before my career at VNA, I was wandering around in a Texas field with burrs in my bum, rotten teeth in my mouth, and a big hole in my heart. At 84 years old, I found myself alone. Up until then, I was just a dog.
Bernie's official VNA name badge.
But VNA never sees any of their staff as “just” anything. We are never just a nurse, or just an occupational therapist or just a social worker. We are never just an administrative assistant or just a manager or just a home health aide. We are all something. When they hire us, they see something, the potential of being more than “just.”
Through a grueling interview process, I was put on payroll, but to be honest there’s never been one single dog biscuit deposited into my bank account. Suspicious.
I was also given a chauffeur, who will be referenced as such. Chauffeur is okay, not much ambition to that one though. When we go out to “do our business” and I make a genuine effort to anoint every single blade of grass, she’s never once made an attempt. Disappointing.
But the good thing is I got a brother; he works too. He can’t see or hear, but feels with all his heart. He’s a different kind of comfort for humans. It’s a quiet kind of love; a Binny kind. He teaches humans being imperfect is perfect. We’ve all got our own bumps and bruises, don’t we?
But to be honest when HR (I think this stands for hotdog recruiter) handed me my job duties, I was more nervous than being told I was getting my temperature taken. Ooo wee you never see that one coming.
Bernie’s Job Responsibilities AKA The Benefits of Owning a Dog in Your Golden Years
- Provide companionship
- Lower stress and anxiety
- Encourage more active lifestyle- walks and fetch, keep us young
- Reduce depression and loneliness, isolation
- Lower blood pressure
- Increase social interactions
- Create habits and routines which can improve mental awareness
- Sense of purpose and motivation
- Connection
- Feeling needed
- Mood booster (my wagging tail = your face smiling)
- Unconditional love - I will love you even if you have food in your teeth, probably even more so
Apparently, dogs can do A LOT for humans. I thought I was just here to be cute, for the hugs and snugs, and for the AFOREMENTIONED DOG BISCUITS. But I learned we are more than just dogs. We can be your best friend, your sidekick, your shot gun rider, your couch potato buddy, your secret keeper, your tear chaser. Your shadow when the sun has set. Your somebody. Yours.
I was just a dog all my life. But then I met Maria. Maybe all my coworkers have that one special person who they get to help who makes them see they are more than just a nurse, or just an OT, or just a social worker.
That’s the turning point when we find our “why”
Maria had sadness in her eyes when I met her. Chauffeur told her to come to her exercise classes and hold me. And so, Maria did, with a glimmer in her eyes. Every class, there she was waiting to hold me. Something special happened the other day as Maria sat holding me, suddenly, she began moving her leg like chauffeur and the rest of class. Maria, who told chauffeur she wasn’t going to exercise, was indeed exercising. Maria told chauffeur I was the thing she looks forward to in the morning and she said she loved me. I can only tell her with a tail wag what I feel. Hope she knows what I’m saying. Burrs disappear, rotten teeth are fixed, and holes in the heart heal.
Maria cuddling with Bernie during an exercise class.
When I took this job, I was to be only chauffeurs’ dog, but over time, Binny and I have become everyone’s dog. We are a source of comfort, caring, and companionship, even if for only a moment in time. We can fill silence with laughter and sorrow with a smile. We are there when you need someone.
It is in those moments that I found my “why.”
Humans give their love readily, openly, and freely to us four-legged kind. And we gently hold your hearts for as long as we can. And when we can no longer, we give them back to you. Even bigger and better. My view of humans is usually only your ankles. I am only 8 inches off the ground, after all. But dogs also have a magical gift, we can see into your hearts. That’s the best reason to have - just a dog.
Visiting Nurses is a place where you are more than “just.”
Not just a patient, just a client, or just a senior resident, not just a volunteer or just a donor, not just an employee, not just a place to work.
And that is VNA’s why …
Bernie requests that if you found this article mildly entertaining, and you don’t already have a dog, to consider adopting a best friend at a local shelter. Especially a senior dog. They are just the best.
Can't adopt – consider volunteering.
All dog biscuits can be sent to chauffeur.