POTS brings us Stanley

i have written about POTS before - twice actually. i wrote about the difficulty of living with POTS and about the whole gift of unanswered prayer that i got to unwrap.

but i didn't write to you about Stanley and how he came to rescue the Corlews. . .

it was before we had THE diagnosis - it was during the hard, dark time when we knew something was wrong but the medical community was convinced that this was depression. and yes, i would agree that there was depression - lacey depressed because of the never-ending-wicked headache and fatigue and light-headedness and loss of mobility and friends - dave and i worn out and down by the brick wall we kept running into - her siblings bewildered and tired of Lacey's illness being the focus of our family.

after a particularly depressing doctor appointment, i recieved a call from an affliate therapist who asked about Lacey and wondered if we had considered pet therapy. i assured him we had pets- a very fine feline by the name of Nelson and a tiny, tiny kitten name Lovey . "No, Mrs. Corlew - I mean a responsive pet, like a dog." we spoke for a few more minutes and then signed off. we never spoke again, i never got the chance to say "thank you."

we had given up our yellow lab the year before. Thor was Dave's dog, the son of two great hunting dogs. because Dave was not able to devote as much time to training Thor and hunting, the dog became a confused house dog. so Dave trained Thor to sit and stay and come and lay down. Thor did well with Dave but not so good with the rest of us (Becky has a good story about running around our neighborhood in her pj's trying to get Thor back home). we had bought a home in the country but on a busy road and knew that one distracted dog and one busy highway were not a good combination. Thor went to live with good friends with a fenced-in backyard and Dave decreed "no more dogs."

at our house, when Dave "decreeds" something, we all know not to mess with it. . . until we have to. i knew that discussion and manipulation were not options so i prayed. i remember laying in bed that night telling God that although i knew, i just knew a dog would help Lacey - there was nothing to be done unless HE chose to intervene.

the short story is that one of my co-workers came to me the very next day inquiring after Lacey's progress and wondering if we had considered therapy in the form of a puppy because his parent's dog had gotten in the family way and they would love to help us and give Lacey a puppy. (yep, i'm aware that that was one long, honkin' run-on sentence - i'm ok with that - try reading it out loud without taking a breath - that's exactly what the whole experience felt like)

wow! God had spoken and provided. . . how could Dave argue with Him???

Dave, Lacey, and I found ourselves on the other side of the cheddar curtain in Kenosha, meeting the mama dog, the papa dog, and all the pups. all Lacey can remember is sitting down on the floor and then Stanley was in her arms.

the owners gave us a dish towel to wrap him in for the ride home - we hadn't come prepared because Dave said we were just going to "look" at the pups. Dave was strangely quiet on the ride home. i didn't bother to inquire. . . this was between him and God.

Stanley did not cure Lacey but he did rescue us. he gave us a new focus, a reason to laugh and helped Lacey by needing to go out and be fed and be loved and love her back. he earned his place with the man of the house with his loyalty to Lacey, his gift of alerting us when she needed something, his ability to do something totally off the wall when the family's stress level got too high (yes, he opened the delivery box and ate the whole left-over pizza in the 27 seconds it took us to walk our guests to door and say good-bye - he did that all without the benefit of thumbs, we were mad but impressed).

Stanley was Lacey's best friend and smart enough to choose Dave as his next best friend. Dave accepted.

i believe in the difference a pet can make in lives of people struggling with illness.

i believe in a God who cares enough to send a puppy to a sick little girl and changes her father's mind.