I visited my assisted living pals this week. My nonverbal friend was sitting right in the lobby when I arrived. This was the third time she has been there when we came in. I’m beginning to wonder if she is waiting for me. Of course my human and I sat down and spent a few minutes with her before going to the main room.

In a way, it was kind of a sad visit because several of our regulars are becoming wheelchair bound — the lady who likes my high fives and the one who always says she loves me. We’ve been coming to this residence for years, so it’s not surprising. It has taken my human that long to get used to it, and to not let it bother her too much. But nobody likes to see their friends fading.

One regular who’s still very active is the woman who follows us around while we’re visiting the other residents. She chatters happily the whole time she she trails us.

I saw a few new people. One woman petted me, and asked if I had a name, and my human told her. Then a minute later she asked again. One man in a wheelchair really wanted to see me. He was a little too enthusiastic so my human kept an eye on him. She also kept her hands on me the whole time he was petting me to make sure he wasn’t too rough. But he was okay.

Another resident my human keeps an eye on is a lady who loves hugging me. I don’t particularly like being hugged but I’ll tolerate it for a short while. My human always sits next to the woman, ready to take me back when she sees I’d really like to get down.

I actually visit two residences that are across the street from each other. Usually not enough goes on at the second house to mention. But this time a resident had a birthday party in the big room. This included an entertainer who sang lively Mexican songs…very loudly. My human was worried the music would be too loud for me but I just went about my visits like usual. I even made happy paws on a few residents’ lap blankets. So it was a nice visit.