Poem read at Hettie's Graduation

HIP HIP HOORAY

A Hym to the H’s

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Give a cheer loud and clear
Luna’s litter, the little H’s, the H’s are here
Eight puppies so dear, five girls and three boys
Luna, Camden, Mary, Matt and Silvia rejoice

And what will the names of these little ones be?
They will all start with H; beyond that we will see

One name is certain, they will all fit the call
One name is a given for one and for all
This for sure, you can bet all your money
Sweet, sunny, and funny – each one is a Honey

These puppies a proud CCI lineage can claim
Their great grandfather was an H – Hemet is his name
And before the letter H comes the letter G
So Granny is the new name for Luna’s mother Neri

More handles beginning with the H letter
Some are so bad; a few of them better

Hope will cope; Holly will be jolly Happy, so happy, will be the pride of his pappy
Haven will be one; Harry (hairy) a cute pup pun
And Hazel, when following the word witch, is sure to be a sweet little bitch
Holmes will sleuth and Helga be couth

Helen, fair of face with cute swivel hips
For the beauty that once launched a thousand ships
And Hector, brave Hector who fought in that war
Could we name a dog Horse? Trojan Horse but of course.
Or Horace? Or Nathan Hale? Or Hail, Caesar!



On CSI Miami the head Honcho Cain
Is heroic Horatio, a helluva name
But Horatio is so long, so hard to say
To use with a command, it would get in the way
So maybe we should do what they do on the show
And call one pup Hach
Just H and no mo’



The litter was born several days early, so all were very tiny and we lost two, so the ultimate number was 6 pups. After Hettie had been home with her a couple weeks, Silvia sent a note saying Hettie was doing so well and that ‘she just loves her as does everyone that sees her’ etc. She also sent the rest of the poem as follows:

But the story’s not over; in fact just begun
Puppy raisers all welcome their bundles of fun

The “H” litter turned in on 3/09
They wagged bye to Mama Luna and Mary so fine
They were measured and weighed and ears tattooed green
The darlingest puppies that ever were seen

And now we know just what each “H name be
There’s Hyde and Harry, Hailey, Hettie and Hadley
And who would have guessed? We sure got it wrong
Smallest of all is now Hercules – strong!

Hettie graduates

Sent: Friday, June 17, 2011 4:01:08 PM
Subject: Silvia Lange's CCI pup Hettie set to graduate next Friday


Hello,

My husband and I met Silvia through Canine Companions for Independence. She was one of the most kind, generous, compassionate, creative, humorous people I have ever met, and I miss her terribly! The last puppy she was raising came to live with us after Silvia disappeared. Hettie is nearing the end of her Service Dog training and should graduate as a hearing dog next Friday (June 24) at the CCI campus in Santa Rosa. It is customary for CCI puppy raisers to make a small photo album of each dogs ‘early years’ to present to the dogs new partner. With your permission, I would love to include some of the wonderful pictures you have of Silvia and Hettie, Silvia and Neria and Silvia with Neri’s last litter. I will also include a two part poem Silvia wrote for us, when Hettie’s litter was born and when the litter received their names. I am also hoping to honor Silvia in some way at the graduation, perhaps a photo and comments in the graduation program and/or graduation slide show. Silvia’s love and nurturing are evident in the affectionate, confident, well mannered working dog that Hettie has matured into. I am thrilled that Hettie will fulfill the plans Silvia had for her, i.e. to help someone live a more independent life.



Best Regards,


Mary Roseberry