One of the many blessings that came from the Observer article was an email from Phil Sperling. Phil is the owner of Ditto. Ditto, as you may remember from the article, was the service dog that prompted Jack to say his first word following his loss of speech. It was "dog", of course. Phil was very moved by the fact that his dog had helped Jack that he contacted us through the reporter at the Observer.
Phil and Ditto are doing very well. Ditto is now 14 and has the same calm demeanor and beautiful face that we remember from back when Jack was in the hospital. This dog is truly an amazing dog. He can dial 911 for Phil in case of an emergency. He knows sign language and Hebrew. As a matter of fact, all the commands that Phil gave him when we were there were in Hebrew.
We took Phil to lunch and enjoyed catching up and talking about holidays and family. Jack and Phil prattled back and forth like Jack likes to do. We had a good time and promised to keep in touch and get together again soon.
Happy Hanukkah Phil!
