It feels like winter, the perfect time to curl up with a critter and read a good book. I have a couple of suggestions.Ms. Beasely, a local third grade teacher let me borrow Catie Copley, the beautifully illustrated story of a well-mannered, people pleasing black Labrador retriever. Catie Copley, works at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts, in the employ of Jim Carey, the hotel’s director of concierge services. The story left me curious about what Catie might be up to currently. As we all know, google searches provide an abundance of information quickly. I learned that there is another canine ambassador at the hotel these days, Carly Copley. For several years the two dogs worked side by side -- the hotel has lots of guests -- but when Catie retired, Carly began performing double duty. And, as I continued my search, I learned that the beloved Catie Copley, born in 2001, who trained as a seeing eye dog and served as a goodwill ambassador touching the lives of thousands of hotel visitors since 2004 died in May, 2017. The tweet announcing her death read, With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the news that our beloved Catie Copley has passed away. Her paw-some love will be missed by all, https://twitter.com/FairmontCopley/status/868103663969021953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonmagazine.com%2Fnews%2F2017%2F05%2F26%2Fcatie-copley%2F.
Wish is currently on my bedside table. I'm 3/4 the way through and, so far, it is a real heart-breaker. Charlie, short for Charlemagne, is sent to live with relatives in the sticks. Charlie has no plans to stay with Bertha (her mother's kind-hearted sister) and Gus -- from the beginning she's determined to go back to Raleigh. She pines for a family that's not "broken". Charlie's mother, suffers from depression and can't get "her feet on the ground", and her dad, who she calls Scrappy, is serving jail time. Her older sister, Jackie, the lucky one, gets to stay with a friend, and Charlie is sent to live with "squirrel eating hillbillies" in a house falling off a mountain. And that's just the beginning of Charlie's "pity-party". Charlie, who wants a dog more than anything. The dog Charlie's always wanted shows up, a bedraggled, quick-to-learn stray, not unlike Charlie. But, he takes off, too, leaving Charlie bereft; not only does she lose Wishbone, the dog of her dreams, but she says the most hurtful thing imaginable to Howard, her one and only true friend in her temporary town. And, that's where I am! Flannel jammies, lots of blankets on the bed, a mug of hot chocolate, Murphy and Charlotte snuggling close and Barbara O'Connor's (How to Steal a Dog) Wish in hand!
