Darlene's Dogs: A story of hope and help

Welcome to Fishers!


An inauspicious begining:

Special education teacher, Darlene Gosnell, had her life and career changed by a drunk driver one night after a head on collision. Darlene’s injuries were so severe that when she was finally released from the hospital she needed a dog to keep her mobile, guide her and remind her to take her medications.

Molly

As Darlene continued with her own rehab, other rehab patients would play with and enjoy Darlene’s cairn terrier and personal pet/therapist, “Molly.” Darlene’s own rehab took nearly 2 years. During that time Darlene experienced first hand the benefit of a pet/therapist. She and her doctors also saw how others benefited as well. With her doctors’ encouragement and no longer able to teach because of her brain injuries, she began a two year process of establishing TheraPets of Indiana, Inc.

Drugs or dogs?

Adam is one of Darlene’s biggest fans. Adam was born with a compromised immune system. As a result he is frequently ill and too frequently hospitalized. Adam and his parents are enthusiastic about their experience with TheraPets.

“I like the dogs and they help me to not be scared. It is a lot easier to go to the hospital when the dogs are there” says Adam, now 11, recalling the surgery he had at age 8 to have a heart port put in so his medicine could be directly injected into his heart. It was a scary procedure for the whole family but with the dogs there it was a lot easier.

Adam & Molly

“I still remember sitting there waiting for the doctors to take him into surgery when these two dogs came around the corner. As soon as Adam saw them his eyes lit up and his countenance totally changed,” recalls Adam’s mom, Theresa. “He was able to relax and the whole procedure went much more smoothly. When we are at other hospitals, they have to sedate Adam to help him calm down, but when he has a dog, he can just sit there and pet the dog. It is such a blessing.”

In fact, the dogs are a blessing to hundreds of patients. They are even able to ride into surgery with patients. Once the patient is under anesthesia the dogs are removed from the operating room. When the patient is coming out of the anesthesia, the dogs are there on the bed making the transition much more peaceful.

Mac, a dog who knows:

Many times when a patient is in hospice or the hospital and about to die “Mac” is there offering comfort to the person and family. “Mac” is a bereavement dog. When the person is about to die, “Mac” will fold his paws and rest his head on the patient. It is truly remarkable.

Darlene lives in a small, unassuming ranch in Fishers, Indiana, with anywhere from 4 to 15 rescue dogs. It is from here that Darlene runs TheraPets. Many of the dogs (23 in total) stay with doctors or other foster families, so Darlene’s house is not always full of clamor. She gets her dogs from a local breeder or she rescues them from shelters to give them a new life, even as she now lives a new life.

TheraPets HQ

To look at her house one wouldn’t know that the occupants face death, injury, disaster and suffering on a daily basis. Darlene and her little terriers don’t look like the type you would see mobilized by the National Guard, working alongside FEMA personnel or roaming the halls of a hospital. Yet she and her mighty army of little cairn terriers and west highland terriers, known as “westies” are stalwart in the face of tragedy.

Bringing peace to tragedy:

Recently, the police called on Darlene and her dogs. A couple of men had broken into the home of immigrants and tried to rape the daughter. As the father fought off the assailants, his daughter escaped. The father was severely beaten for his intervention. Adding insult to injury, his wife was then brutally raped in front of him. The wife spoke only Spanish and was distraught to say the least. The presence of the dog was a great comfort to the woman. As she sat there stroking the dog, she was able to calm down and talk about her ordeal.

Darlene and her TheraPets are a great example of the type of people who make up the fiber of a community: unsung heroes who selflessly care for the needs of the hurting, the victims, the forgotten, and the people who, while most of us are working and going about our normal routine, are facing the fragility of life.

Other fun and/or helpful links:
Fishers, Google Video
TheraPets on FaceBook (Maybe Mac will get on Twitter someday!)

Special thanks to Darlene Gosnell, Adam and his family, and boost media entertainment

Procreation and Cooperation: lessons from New Harmony, Indiana

I have now lived in Indiana longer than any other place in the world. I understand that Indiana is seen as somewhat "backward" and conservative in the worst sense of the word. This, despite Indiana's history of pursuing avante-garde Utopian designs. We won't touch on Kinsey's fatally flawed "research" in this post. but let Kinsey stand as an enduring symbol to the world that Indiana is not as backward as some might think, though Indiana's esteem of Kinsey would rank us among the blindest.

On to New Harmony. Truly this is a fascinating story. A testament to the world that if we learn from history, life really would go a lot easier.

Harmonie was settled by a break-away Lutheran religious sect known as the Harmonists. Fleeing persecution in Germany they landed in America and kept running! Lest we disparage these hearty souls, history shows that in Harmonie they were able to found a prosperous community. Most of the people in southern Indiana at that time lived in one room cabins but the Harmonists lived in massive dorms. They were able to build a town that was thriving and successful. Their spirit of cooperation and hard work paid off in spades.

What does one do with a thriving town? Sell it! For a cool $150,000.

Robert Owen was a Welshman with a vision. As a social reformer and Utopian thinker Owen sought the perfect society with the aid of William Maclure. Together, the two started their grand experiment in 1825 with the creative name, New Harmony.

(cue soundtrack: Imagine, by John Lennon)
They created a cashless society where everything was owned by everyone. Private ownership was not allowed. Many leading intellectuals joined Owen and Maclure. They even started the first public school.

(cue new soundtrack: Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney)

Alas, all was not well and there was trouble in paradise. They couldn't get along and the intellectuals didn't want to work, they wanted to think. Others didn't want to work and not get paid. Josiah Warren, one of the founders along with Owen put it like this, "our 'united interests' were directly at war with the individualities of persons and circumstances and the instinct of self-preservation." New Harmony was anything but harmonious and in 1829 the experiment concluded in discord. 


What has become of New Harmony? It is still there and there are still some intellectuals living there as well. People own houses and are paid for their labor. It is a nice place, and a fun place to visit with its rich and interesting history. In fact, throughout the year many intellectuals visit New Harmony. They take in the history and wonderful art exhibits. I wonder why they don't stay?


The Harmonists? Well, whereas Owen and his friends could not seem to cooperate and thus are no more, the Harmonists weren't so good at cooperating either. They were industrious, but they were celibate. It is hard to keep a society growing without procreation. I think it is safe to say that procreation takes cooperation as well. Interestingly enough, the Harmonists settled in Pennsylvania, the same state with a town called Intercourse.


(cue sountrack: anything by Barry White or this from the Flight of the Conchords)


What lessons are to be learned from history? Well, without procreation, extinction is assured. This is why in about 20-30 years Europe will be Islamic. (We can do that post later)


Owen's experiment is trickier to dissect. Many communal societies have thrived. They tend to be small and people willingly lay down their individualism for the good of the community. Yet, time after time we see a coercive type of "communalism" show up in the forms of socialism and communism. When that type of community is coerced the community seems to be doomed. This is what was alluded to in the Scrooge nation post. When the government is in control of society the people don't need to care about their neighbor, nor really their location. The "pride in ownership is lost." Is collapse inevitable? Are people born with an innate sense that they are meant to be free? How is the tension between free and cooperation best managed? 


Please comment and let's see what we come up with.


(cue soundtrack: People Got to Be Free by The Rascals)