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<DIV><SPAN class=546301121-22082010><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial>Sue,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=546301121-22082010><FONT color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial>That
sounds great! It's always good to get away for a weekend, and I've always loved
the city in September, the beginning of street fairs and festivals and the
like.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=546301121-22082010><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=546301121-22082010><FONT color=#0000ff size=2
face=Arial>Suzanne</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr class=OutlookMessageHeader align=left><FONT size=2
face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
njagdu-bounces@nfbnet.org [mailto:njagdu-bounces@nfbnet.org]<B>On Behalf Of
</B>MS S TILLETT<BR><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, August 21, 2010 8:47
PM<BR><B>To:</B> New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users<BR><B>Subject:</B>
Re: [Njagdu] [Fwd: [nagdu] Fan's every visit to Yankee Stadium a result of
teamwork]<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>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 size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>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 size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Sue, Wonder, and Megillah</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; 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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