Providing opportunities to realise the potential in ourselves and others
March kicked off with a visit to the local court to see ADNZ Raven’s support crew many of the courthouse staff all chip in towards Raven’s fundraising effort. The place was a bit chaotic due to a change in Covid19 Alert Levels. I don’t think Raven fully appreciates what “Social Distancing” means! Thank you so much for your continued support of Raven and Assistance Dogs NZ Trust.
2020 seems to have flown by, I know that it’s been a year none of us will forget. Globally Covid has been a bit of a shit-show; I am thankful and grateful to be in New Zealand and the decisions our leadership has made. On a personal level was a year of re-examining what is important to me and prioritizing, a year of accessing the medical and disability services and support that would have been beneficial over the last two decades. I guess like many, it’s been a year of uncertainty, confusion and a rapidly changing “normal”.
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Once again it feels like just the other I sat down and got stuck into writing a blog, but in reality it’s been awhile since my last one. For me life had been in this weird space of both carrying on and being on pause. While we in New Zealand have seemingly successfully navigated Levels 4 and 3 of our Covid Alert system; the sun rose each morning, yet so much of life was “on hold”. And now we have moved down through Level 2 and now after several weeks of Level 1 some sense of “normality” was happening before New Zealand had a “second waves” cluster/s appear in the last few weeks.
Read MoreWe haven’t had a lot of opportunity to do public access with Assistance Dogs NZ (ADNZ) Raven while we’ve been on lock-down, and today she rocked it in her new harness. ADNZ Raven’s physiology is different to ADNZ Ben so we’ve been getting the set up right for her public mobility tasks. If you would like to support ADNZ Raven’s fundraising please head to: https://give.everydayhero.com/nz/assistance-dogs-nz-ben-has-retired-please-support-his-succes
Video description: ADNZ Raven is wearing a bright blue harness with a Y-front and small handle attached to a D-ring on the back of her harness, to the right of her body. Antnz is on Raven’s right (behind in frame). They are walking into a bank. Antnz is using crutches.
Read MoreWe’ve been together a wee while now, but lockdown prevented the face to face time with a trainer. We’re off to a good start today.
I’ve finally dragged out the GoPro and been taking some footage here and there. This was us getting out on a “government approved exercise” walk on the 23rd April. Assistance Dogs NZ Raven is still getting used to this route and where the barking dogs live. I needed to get my editing groove on again, so put this together…. I hope you enjoy.
Stay Home, Save Lives.
Antnz
It seems like yesterday I was writing a tribute to Assistance Dogs NZ (ADNZ) Ben, then next thing I know; the world is looking a whole lot different! ADNZ Raven is here and our entire country is in a state of emergency on “Level 4 Covid 19 Alert”; which is essentially “only leave your house for essential services like food or medical care, or your employment is classed as an essential service, the borders are now closed”.
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Its time for one chapter to close, and another to open.
If you have met me over the last 6 or 7 years you will have also met my sidekick, Assistance Dogs NZ Trust (ADNZ) Ben. ADNZ Ben has been with me through many ups and many downs over the years, but the reality is that he is now 10 years old, he’s done an amazing job for me over this time but he is retiring. He will be rehomed with a long time friend of mine who will give him a relaxed retirement, where he can just chill. She is also one of the few wheelchair users he will sleep behind so I know he trusts her. I have also been matched with a successor through ADNZ.
It’s been an intense couple of weeks that’s for sure!
So after taking it easy for a few months it’s time for me to start putting my toes back in the waters of Enabling Good Lives and being more active again in taking control of what I can control and try to let go of the rest. Which is hard, I seem to be “hard wired” to just get in there and make it happen. I also have a lot going on with the “medical” side of life coming up so I’m prioritizing what I do and how much I take on this year.
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