The first time my dog Luci and I walked into the school there were many heads turning,
whispering, and tentative hands wanting to pet. Luci is now well known in the school and is
greeted graciously by students and faculty alike. As we enter the school, we arrive early to
give our hellow to the staff before embarking on the day's journey of visits.
    By the time we finish up our day Luci is ready for her McDonald's cheeseburger, and I
have a smile across my face of light-heartedness and amazement of the day's vist. I look
at Luci sitting next to me and tell her what a wonderful job she did. Luci looks back at me
with her deep, dark eyes and smiles. She is a very humble creature of love.
    As I ponder the events of the visit Luci and I make, I sit in awe at what has taken place. The
most recent being that a young child has spoken a sentence for the first time.When we first stared
visiting the classroom, the child would interact with Luci, staring deep into her eyes. There was
something special about those two; they were connected, not by words, but by their eyes.
    After a while, this young child would want otheres to interact with Luci and would take classmates
by the hand and lead them to Luci to pet her. The child would take thir hands and ever so gently move
it across Luci's back. The child and Luci continued to talk through their eyes.
    Then one day as we walked Luci down the hall, a sentence fell out of the child's mouth. Amazed, I
contained my excitement and answered the question. A few steps later, another sentence came. As
we approached several students lined up in the hall, he announced to them, "This is Luci." As we
continued our walk down the hallway and outside on this beautiful sunny day, another sentence came.
As the child held on to the special leash with one hand, the other hand patted Luci's back and out
came, "It is big." As calmly as possible, I could only respond, "Yes, she is big isn't she?"
    What an exciting day. I am frequently stunned by some of the things that take place during
our visits. This was one of those days.