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Coming to Leader Dog Gave Us More Than Dog Guides
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Finding Family After 28 Years
- Published in: Update - Issue 2 - 2010
- Listen to Article
Diane Garrett and Leader Dog Ivy Green
When Diane Garrett and Randel Stuckey came to Leader Dog in January of 2010, they knew they would leave with new dogs, the 8th for Diane and the 5th for Randel. What they didn’t know was that coming to Leader Dog would give them back a sibling.
During the first evening of class when the students were gathered for a lecture, they went around the room to introduce themselves to each other. When Diane Garrett introduced herself, Randel Stuckey spoke up, “that’s funny, my sister’s name is Eloise Garrett.”
“Randy,” Diane cried, “that’s me. You’re my brother.” [Diane is Garrett’s middle name] After class they shared a laugh as they headed back to their rooms and found that they had been placed next door to each other.
Randel Stuckey and Leader Dog Reesa Grace
Growing up together in South Carolina, both siblings experienced vision loss at a young age. They lost touch in 1982 after Diane moved to Oklahoma to get married and Randy moved to Florida. Though she attempted to find Randy several times, Diane was unsuccessful because of their out-of-state moves.
“It blew my mind when I found Diane again,” exclaimed Randy. “When I was getting ready to come to Leader Dog I said to my neighbor, ‘wouldn’t it be a blast if I got to Leader Dog and my sister was there.’” Randy didn’t know at the time if his sister even used a dog.
Besides sharing a love of their Leader Dogs, the two also shared an excitement over their Breeze GPS units. “I just love it because I like to get out and walk but I want to stay safe,” says Diane. Echoing her feelings, Randy said, “The Breeze is the most wonderful thing, I’m in love with it – but I love my dog more.”
The siblings plan on staying in touch and will think of each other every time they think of Leader Dog.