1 HIGHWAY GUYS
HIGHWAY GUYS
A TRUE TRAVEL STORY OF A MAN AND HIS DOG
AS NARRATED BY PETER
Chapter 1
My name is Peter and my father is Steve. Well, he’s not my real father, but he adopted me and I feel like he’s the best father a guy could have. I never knew my biological father, or my mother for that matter. I was taken away from her when I was very young and spent a few years with a couple of families in foster homes before my adoption.
I can’t remember most of my childhood, and that’s probably a good thing, but I can tell you all about my dad’s life because we have spent many hours together as he spoke to me about his past.
In 2003, Steve decided he wanted to buy an RV and travel around the country. He had been retired from his medical practice for about 9 years because he developed some kind of nerve disease that made him disabled. He had trouble walking and balancing, and even needed special equipment on his car so he could drive with hand controls.
His friends were worried that he would have a lot of trouble traveling alone, both mentally and physically.
I was in foster care at the time and when Steve and I met the first time, I knew he would make a good dad.
I was about six years old, but that was just an educated guess by the doctors since I never had a real birth certificate. The agency thought I was too old to be hopeful of being adopted but Steve didn’t seem to care.
Before I knew it, the agency approved his application for adoption and I was on my way home with my new dad. I was one happy guy. That day was April 28th, 2003 – our anniversary.
Since I didn’t have a real birthday – Steve decided it should be January 27 the same as his. He said that would make us both Aquarians. I don’t know what that is but if Steve is one, I wanted to be one too.
We spent every day together, and I got to meet all of his friends. I really liked them and I think they liked me.
After a week of living together, Steve told me that he needed me to help him and he was going to get me a teacher to help me learn how to help him. I certainly wanted to be able to help him and if he thought I was smart enough to learn, I was going to give it a try. I learned how to help him balance and walk better and pulled him up ramps and hills when he needed a little extra energy. I also found that he liked to talk to me a lot and I tried to be a good listener. There were lots of things he talked about that I didn’t understand, but I sat by quietly while he tried to explain or teach me something.
My home schooling went well and my teacher told me that if I was really a good student I could become a professional.
Well I must have done well, because before I knew it, Steve had bought a beautiful vest for me that had the words SERVICE DOG on it. Since I can’t read, I had to take his word for it, but I believed him.
He told me that if my mom could see me now, she would be very proud of my accomplishments.
I had grown up to be a good-looking guy with a professional job in the healthcare industry.
Since then I have learned two valuable lessons.
1. Women love guys in uniforms.
2. If you’re good looking, you can get away with anything.
Like I said before, we went every place together. I liked riding in the car in the back seat with my head out the window. What a great experience having all those odors and scents in the air rushing at my nose. Once in a while I would walk between the car seats and sit in the front passenger seat, but the way Steve drove, I would slide back and forth and had trouble keeping my balance, so I decided to stay in the backseat where is was safer and more comfortable.
With my new vest on, I noticed we were going into lots of places I had never been in before; like restaurants, movie theatres, stores of all kinds. Sometimes people would stop us but I noticed that all Steve had to do was point to my vest and they would step aside and wave us in. I started to believe that my vest had some kind of magical powers and started to feel very important and special. I wanted my new dad to be proud of me.
MY favorite places to go are restaurants. The floors usually have lots of food on them, and even though I’m not supposed to eat off the floor, I manage to scarf up a few morsels when no one is looking. Most of the time Steve will ask me what he should order, and I just smile. He knows what I like. I’m a carnivore at heart, and he usually orders something I can get a taste of that I like. I hate it when he orders salads, but he saves the crotons for me so it’s not a total loss. My other favorite place to go is the movies because people are always spilling popcorn on the floor and I like getting to them before those people with the long brooms and pans get to take them away.
End of chapter
A TRUE TRAVEL STORY OF A MAN AND HIS DOG
AS NARRATED BY PETER
Chapter 1
My name is Peter and my father is Steve. Well, he’s not my real father, but he adopted me and I feel like he’s the best father a guy could have. I never knew my biological father, or my mother for that matter. I was taken away from her when I was very young and spent a few years with a couple of families in foster homes before my adoption.
I can’t remember most of my childhood, and that’s probably a good thing, but I can tell you all about my dad’s life because we have spent many hours together as he spoke to me about his past.
In 2003, Steve decided he wanted to buy an RV and travel around the country. He had been retired from his medical practice for about 9 years because he developed some kind of nerve disease that made him disabled. He had trouble walking and balancing, and even needed special equipment on his car so he could drive with hand controls.
His friends were worried that he would have a lot of trouble traveling alone, both mentally and physically.
I was in foster care at the time and when Steve and I met the first time, I knew he would make a good dad.
I was about six years old, but that was just an educated guess by the doctors since I never had a real birth certificate. The agency thought I was too old to be hopeful of being adopted but Steve didn’t seem to care.
Before I knew it, the agency approved his application for adoption and I was on my way home with my new dad. I was one happy guy. That day was April 28th, 2003 – our anniversary.
Since I didn’t have a real birthday – Steve decided it should be January 27 the same as his. He said that would make us both Aquarians. I don’t know what that is but if Steve is one, I wanted to be one too.
We spent every day together, and I got to meet all of his friends. I really liked them and I think they liked me.
After a week of living together, Steve told me that he needed me to help him and he was going to get me a teacher to help me learn how to help him. I certainly wanted to be able to help him and if he thought I was smart enough to learn, I was going to give it a try. I learned how to help him balance and walk better and pulled him up ramps and hills when he needed a little extra energy. I also found that he liked to talk to me a lot and I tried to be a good listener. There were lots of things he talked about that I didn’t understand, but I sat by quietly while he tried to explain or teach me something.
My home schooling went well and my teacher told me that if I was really a good student I could become a professional.
Well I must have done well, because before I knew it, Steve had bought a beautiful vest for me that had the words SERVICE DOG on it. Since I can’t read, I had to take his word for it, but I believed him.
He told me that if my mom could see me now, she would be very proud of my accomplishments.
I had grown up to be a good-looking guy with a professional job in the healthcare industry.
Since then I have learned two valuable lessons.
1. Women love guys in uniforms.
2. If you’re good looking, you can get away with anything.
Like I said before, we went every place together. I liked riding in the car in the back seat with my head out the window. What a great experience having all those odors and scents in the air rushing at my nose. Once in a while I would walk between the car seats and sit in the front passenger seat, but the way Steve drove, I would slide back and forth and had trouble keeping my balance, so I decided to stay in the backseat where is was safer and more comfortable.
With my new vest on, I noticed we were going into lots of places I had never been in before; like restaurants, movie theatres, stores of all kinds. Sometimes people would stop us but I noticed that all Steve had to do was point to my vest and they would step aside and wave us in. I started to believe that my vest had some kind of magical powers and started to feel very important and special. I wanted my new dad to be proud of me.
MY favorite places to go are restaurants. The floors usually have lots of food on them, and even though I’m not supposed to eat off the floor, I manage to scarf up a few morsels when no one is looking. Most of the time Steve will ask me what he should order, and I just smile. He knows what I like. I’m a carnivore at heart, and he usually orders something I can get a taste of that I like. I hate it when he orders salads, but he saves the crotons for me so it’s not a total loss. My other favorite place to go is the movies because people are always spilling popcorn on the floor and I like getting to them before those people with the long brooms and pans get to take them away.
End of chapter
posted by The Highway Guys @ 10:32 PM
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