Watching television on the morning of December 14th, 2012 was surreal, as the news unfolded, little by little, of what was happening less than two miles up the road from our house. Initially I just heard the sirens, and then a Newtown friend posted a page on Facebook, from our online newspaper, The Newtown Patch. A possible shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. That's when I turned on the television and started paying more attention to the sirens, that I now realized were not just passing by and fading. They kept on and on and on …. then the helicopters started coming, and then just more and more speculation from the news reports until the world learned, much later in the day, just how horrific a tragedy we were facing.
Shocked, like so many others in Sandy Hook and Newtown, our neighboring towns, and across our entire state and country, I felt helpless and sickened and sad. And also like so many others, I wondered what in the world I could do to help, when a small voice said, "hey, you have a wonderful therapy dog, as do many of your friends in Sandy Hook and Newtown, and surrounding towns; they have an ability that will amaze you." And before I knew it there was a group of nine golden retrievers and one black lab at my house, forming a caravan down to the primary memorial site. And that started a week of incredible work on the part of Libby, Mirasol Cayberry UnScentsored, who rocked my world with her awesome instincts, abilities and perseverance in the face of unimaginable grief and horror. Many of the children smiling for the first time since the tragedy, and so many adults smiling through their tears, as they reached out to touch her, and she reached up to them. Night after night we came home sad and exhausted, but each day Libby went right back to work, wearing her happy face and obviously eager to help comfort and heal. Words just cannot adequately express the impact our dogs had … they are beyond awesome in their ability to comfort and heal. I think the photos tell their story quite well.