I had to pick Frankie up from the groomers on my lunch break, and since we were close to my dad’s nursing home I decided to stop and let Frankie visit his granddaddy.

As we were walking towards the entrance, I noticed an elderly fellow on a bench by himself. I had not seen him at the home before, and once he saw Frankie he smiled, so Frankie started pulling me over to see him.

When we got to him, he held out his frail hand to let Frankie sniff it, and then he immediately started petting Frankie’s clean face. Frankie was leaning into his legs, making the man’s hands move all over his head, neck, and back. I was mostly saying niceties like “this weather sure is lovely” and “how was lunch today”, and then I noticed that he was crying. I sat down next to him, put my hand on his arm and asked him if he wanted to talk to me about why he was crying.

“I miss my dog,” he said, as his hands kept moving over Frankie’s back. “She was such a good dog, and I’ll probably never see her again.”

“What happened to her,” I asked.

“My daughter had to give her away when I went into the hospital 9 months ago. I hope she’s okay and in a good home. I loved her so much and I miss her every day.”

At this point, Frankie had turned around and was facing the man, so he jumped up and placed his front paws on the bench next to the man and leaned down so the man could hug him. I’ve seen my dog be very empathetic before to the residents at the home, and when I’m sad he’s always been able to sense it and let me know that he’s there if I need comfort, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.

And as the man hugged him and cried some more, I cried and said a silent prayer for the man and his dog. And I’m going to make sure I look for him every time I take Frankie to visit.