I'd like a puppy, please.

I'm home on spring break now.

Time is odd. Two weeks into the semester I felt like I had been back in Wheaton for ages, but now I feel like the first half of the semester just flew by. Yesterday in American lit class I realized with a piercing clarity that at this time next year I will be nearing the end of my college career, and that I will miss being in the classroom very, very much. It makes me sad just thinking about it. I suppose this is why lots of students start thinking about grad school or consider becoming teachers themselves.

Today I read an autobiography of Jean Little called Stars Come Out Within. She also wrote a memoir for children called Little by Little which I read and re-read when I was younger. (I remember being delighted by the pun.) Jean Little is a Canadian children's author who is blind and has a Seeing Eye dog. Her books often have characters with disabilities, and unlike the disabled kids in most children's books (think Pollyanna, The Secret Garden, Heidi. . .) they don't miraculously get better.

Stars Come Out Within is mostly about Jean Little's life as a writer, her struggles as her eyesight worsened over the years, and her partnership with her Seeing Eye dog Zephyr. I enjoyed how reading it sparked memories I have of Little by Little. That was one of my favorite books when I was little - I loved reading about her early childhood as an MK in Taiwan; how she was teased about being cross-eyed and found comfort in books (she held them so close to her eyes that her nose would get inky); about how she wrote poetry, inspired and encouraged by her father; and about how she taught children with disabilities and decided to write a book for them. But mostly I loved reading about her Seeing Eye dog and the joy and independence he gave her.

A good portion of Stars Come Out Within is about going to Morristown to train with Zephyr. Everything she said about the Seeing Eye and the dogs rings so true with my experience and what I've heard from graduates. It was exciting to read about her instructor and think, "I know who Doug Roberts is!" and be able to picture the dorm rooms, and her first route on Maple Street, and the train station. It's made me miss my involvement with the Seeing Eye - that school is doing such amazing work, and their graduates are their best witnesses.

I'm missing my puppy raising days a bit. Maybe I'll borrow a puppy and join Eyes of Hope in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Morristown next Saturday. . .