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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That's two good stories! Keep it up.
Wonder and I are proud of you, and it's good for your kids too.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I don't seem to travel far and wide like I used
to. I tell Wonder "if she knew how hard I worked my first three dogs her
tongue would be hanging out. We are looking forward to making two trips to
NYC in September though, and one will be for a long weekend.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sue, Wonder, and Megillah</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mom2brylaur@verizon.net href="mailto:mom2brylaur@verizon.net">Suzanne
Woolbert</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=njagdu@nfbnet.org
href="mailto:njagdu@nfbnet.org">New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, August 21, 2010 9:48
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Njagdu] [Fwd: [nagdu] Fan's
every visit to Yankee Stadium a result of teamwork]</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Hi, Tracy and all,<BR>That's an awesome and very touching
story. It's all about freedom and<BR>independence to be able to do what you
want, and having the confidence to do<BR>it. I now do things with my dog, Taj
that a few years ago I wouldn't have<BR>thought I would.<BR><BR>In the past
two years, I have become a single mom. At times, I travel with<BR>my dog, kids
and adult friends, but we've been making more solo trips<BR>lately. This past
week I was on vacation and my kids and I were determined<BR>to strike out on
our own. Bryan, also visually impaired and eleven, and<BR>Lauren, sighted and
nine, traveled to the beach at the Hilton in Atlantic<BR>City where Taj
enjoyed the sand and the surf. Another day, we went to Bounce<BR>U, one of
those very noisy and crowded places for children to jump and play<BR>for two
hours. The next night, we found ourselves on the Ocean City<BR>Boardwalk, in
and out of shops, restaurants, and on the Cast Away Cove Pier<BR>for amusement
rides. UP and down steps, in and out of noisy lit-up rides,<BR>and through
crowds of people Taj and I followed behind my two kids.<BR>Yesterday, we went
to Clementon Water Park. I spent a lot of time cooling<BR>Taj off with bottles
of water over his neck and back, and bowls full to<BR>drink. We traversed the
park to find the different water rides, lunch tables<BR>and games. I do
believe he sighed a heavy sigh of relief when at last the<BR>Access Link bus
pulled up to our home some nine hours later, and we walked<BR>quietly down the
steps and made a detour to his favorite spot in a field<BR>next door for a
break.<BR><BR>The moral of the story--it can be done! It's all about
confidence and faith<BR>in yourself and your dog.<BR><BR>Thanks for
reading<BR>Suzanne<BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: <A
href="mailto:njagdu-bounces@nfbnet.org">njagdu-bounces@nfbnet.org</A>
[mailto:njagdu-bounces@nfbnet.org]On<BR>Behalf Of Tracy Carcione<BR>Sent:
Thursday, August 19, 2010 7:46 AM<BR>To: <A
href="mailto:njagdu@nfbnet.org">njagdu@nfbnet.org</A><BR>Subject: [Njagdu]
[Fwd: [nagdu] Fan's every visit to Yankee Stadium a<BR>result of
teamwork]<BR><BR><BR>This story is from last year, but I enjoyed re-reading
it.<BR>The other day, I put on the Yankees game for a minute, during
the<BR>commercial in the Mets game, and Jane and Pete Lang were in the
broadcast<BR>booth. It was fun listening. Jane's new dog is
Clipper, so he has a Joe<BR>DiMaggio jersey. The broadcasters were remarking
how quietly Clipper was<BR>lying there. People remark the same about my
Ben. I expect my dog to lie<BR>quietly, but JQ Public seems to expect
him to be leaping about like a<BR>fool. Guess they're used to untrained
dogs.<BR>Anyway, here's last year's story.<BR><BR><BR>NEW YORK - The doors to
the D Train open at 161st and River Ave and they<BR>step onto the platform,
one unlikely Yankees fan guiding another through the<BR>dense game-day
crowd.<BR><BR>Laramie leads the way. Jane Lang follows at his side. They walk
up a<BR>stairwell to the street and past the vendors lined up alongside the
famous<BR>ballpark. They circle around to Gate 4, where Laramie stops in front
of his<BR>favorite tree. He has earned a quick bathroom break.<BR><BR>"Isn't
this place something?" Lang asks when they finally make their way to<BR>her
seats behind home plate. This is a spot that gives her an ideal view of<BR>the
old ballpark, from the famous facade that looms in the outfield to
the<BR>infield grass that is always a perfect shade of green.<BR><BR>Except
she has never seen Yankee Stadium - at least not in the way most fans<BR>have.
Jane Lang is blind. Laramie, a golden retriever, is her guide dog. For<BR>the
past eight years, they have made the trip from their home Morris Plains<BR>to
the Bronx too many times to count.<BR><BR>And one week from today, along with
55,000 other fortunate fans, they will<BR>make it for the final
time.<BR><BR><BR>"I am very sad about it. I love it here," Lang said. She is
wearing a<BR>light-blue Derek Jeter T-shirt and dangly Yankees earrings, and
Laramie has<BR>curled up on a Yankees beach towel spread at her feet. "The
minute I step<BR>into Yankee Stadium, I feel safe.<BR><BR>"I feel
home."<BR><BR>Yankee Stadium means something different to every fan that has
walked<BR>through its gates since 1923. The first time Lang made this trip,
she<BR>gripped the metal bar in front of her seat, heard those familiar sounds
of<BR>batting practice and beer vendors, and couldn't stop her
tears.<BR><BR>"What are you crying for?" the usher asked her. "We haven't even
lost the<BR>game yet!"<BR><BR>"I'm crying," Jane Lang said, "because I got
here on my own."<BR><BR>That first journey was not without an unintentional
detour. She had filled<BR>her pockets with eight pieces of candy, one for each
stop the D Train would<BR>make, and popped one into her mouth every time the
doors opened.<BR><BR>But she must have dropped one piece along the way,
because she got off one<BR>stop too soon. It didn't take long to figure out
that something was wrong,<BR>though. Laramie wouldn't budge until she got back
on the train.<BR><BR>He leads her around puddles in the street and past
careless teenagers<BR>talking on their cell phones as the walk. He makes sure
she stops on every<BR>corner and waits for the light to turn green.<BR><BR>He
walks like a typical New Yorker, never hesitant to bump his way through
a<BR>slow-moving crowd. Lang follows at his right side, whispering "good
boy"<BR>when he stops at the subway stairs or near the edge of a
ramp.<BR><BR>It is a two-hour trip that could test the nerves of a person with
20/20<BR>vision. Lang, 65, makes it about 25 times a year, sometimes with her
husband<BR>Pete to help, but often just with Laramie.<BR><BR>"You can't be
afraid," Lang said, "because if you're afraid, you can't
do<BR>anything."<BR><BR>She has experienced Yankee Stadium in a way unlike any
of the millions of<BR>people who have come here. She has listens to the radio
broadcast of the<BR>game in one ear and the reaction from the crowd in the
other. If the other<BR>fans get angry about a call, she joins
them.<BR><BR>"Hey ump!" she'll yell from her seat. "Are you watching the same
game I'm<BR>watching?"<BR><BR>Pete planned a special surprise for their 41st
wedding anniversary, leading<BR>her onto the field before a game and into the
Yankees dugout where Jorge<BR>Posada was waiting for her.<BR>She reached up
and felt his face.<BR><BR>"He has such a great smile, he really does," she
said. "And he hit a home<BR>run that day!"<BR>She was sitting next to Harlan
Chamberlain the night his famous son, Joba,<BR>made his much-anticipated first
start for the Yankees. Harlan, who uses a<BR>wheelchair, held her hand so
tight she thought it would break, and when she<BR>touched his cheek, she felt
the tears.<BR><BR>The Yankees have become her family. Maybe the fans around
her are furious<BR>with the team for its struggles on the field this season,
but Lang is<BR>grateful that they put a fresh patch of sod outside for Laramie
if he needs<BR>to make a bathroom break. She kisses the concessionaire and
sends Christmas<BR>cards to the ushers.<BR><BR>She wishes she could meet owner
George Steinbrenner some day, because she<BR>knows exactly what she would
tell. "You know what I would do?" she said. "I<BR>would touch his face and
give him a big hug and say, 'Thanks for giving me<BR>so much joy over the
years.'"<BR><BR>Lang hopes she can still visit the new Yankee Stadium next
year, but<BR>Laramie, now 10, won't come back after the final trip to the old
ballpark on<BR>Sunday. The team even put his picture on the scoreboard screen
last month,<BR>congratulating him on his upcoming retirement.<BR><BR>That day
after the game, as the two walked down the steps to the D Train,<BR>fans
spotted the golden retriever.<BR><BR>"Make way for Laramie!" they yelled, and
the crowded parted to let them<BR>through.<BR><BR>He will lead her down those
steps one last time next week, and Lang knows<BR>she'll be crying when he
does. But they'll leave this place with a lifetime<BR>of memories from a
ballpark she has seen in way nobody else
has.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Njagdu
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