JANESVILLE — Kathy and Bill Schendt of St. John Vianney Parish in Janesville were heartbroken and shaken when they first heard the news of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.
“We were sitting there, watching the TV with everyone else in the country,” said Kathy. “Here we are in Janesville, 13 hundred miles away, and we felt helpless. We felt sad. What could we do?”
The retired couple, celebrating 40 years of marriage this month, considered bringing their family pet and certified therapy dog, Francis’ Miracle, down to Uvalde to offer the people and children there some comfort.
Rough puppyhood
The couple’s eight-year-old golden retriever had suffered a very challenging puppyhood.
“She was in puppy ICU for the first three weeks of her life,” said Kathy. “The vet up in Madison didn’t think she’d make it. They tried all these different things, and she finally did pull through. The breeders named her Miracle.”
Born a singleton — meaning she was the only puppy in her litter, a very rare occurrence for golden retrievers — she inhaled birth fluids and developed a massive lung infection. Two months later, it was discovered that she’d been born without a left hip joint.
The breeders had originally intended to raise Miracle as a show dog, but between her current medical issues and fears that more issues would arise, the decision was made to let another couple adopt the puppy.
“They were looking for a home with no small children,” Kathy said. “Our children were grown.”
To help boost the dog’s health, Kathy and Bill took Miracle on regular walks and had her swim once a week at a pool in Janesville.
“After about a year, we took her back to the vet, and he couldn’t tell from feeling which hip was missing anymore,” said Kathy. “The muscle had taken over the whole hip joint.”
Because of her story of perseverance, hope, and love, and her overall good temperament, the couple decided to have her trained and certified as a therapy dog.
“She is such a mellow dog,” said Bill. “She does well with older people. She does well with kids in school. She does well with people who have challenges in their life. She just adapts to the different situations she’s in.”
“My favorite story (from) when we were in training is when we went to an Alzheimer’s unit in St. Elizabeth’s Manor in Footville,” said Kathy. “There was a woman sitting in a wheelchair in the corner of a room, and her eyes were open but there was not a lot going on. She was in the final stages, probably. And Miracle kept insisting on going over there. The nurses kept saying to us, ‘She won’t respond to you. She just won’t.’ And Miracle was insistent, so we went over there, and Miracle put her head on the woman’s lap and the woman started petting her head. The nurses were crying. We were crying. Miracle knew.”
Heading down to Uvalde
Not knowing exactly how to arrange the most effective trip to Uvalde, Bill contacted Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison for advice.
“We are huge fans of the bishop,” said Bill. “If he could have a fan club, we would start it right here.”
“Bishop Hying suggested that we contact Fr. Eddy Morales who is the priest from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uvalde,” said Kathy. “That is the only Catholic Church in Uvalde, and so we sent him a letter.”
Father Morales had the task of officiating at 11 funerals of 12 of the victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School.
“We just said, ‘We have a therapy dog,’” said Kathy. “Whatever you need us to do, we are willing to come down and spend a significant amount of time.”
Over the course of the next couple of weeks, they were put in contact with the principal at Sacred Heart School, the only Catholic school in Uvalde.
“The enrollment was about 45 kids last year from pre-K through sixth grade. Right now, it is a little over 110. More people want to get in,” said Bill, adding that people could donate to a scholarship fund for Uvalde students through Catholic Extension. “They’ve got about 40 kids right now from Robb Elementary. Eleven kids at their school have suffered gunshot wounds [from the school shooting].”
The principal expressed great enthusiasm, and arrangements were made for the couple and their dog to spend the first week of the new school year there.
‘Miracle’ brings comfort
“We basically stayed in the counseling center, but we would also go into the lunchroom at lunchtime so after the kids ate, they could come over and play and pet Miracle,” said Kathy. “As I’ve said to many people, it was very heartbreaking and very heartwarming at the same time. You could feel the heaviness of some of these kids. Some of these kids lost their siblings, friends.”
“We are just so blessed that we are able to go down there and really spread Miracle’s love and compassion with the kids,” said Bill. “You could see them opening up as the week went on.”
Since the public school was not yet open, they spent their evening hours taking Miracle to the public library.
“A gentleman came up,” said Kathy. “He came over and said he wanted to pet Miracle. We said ‘oh sure’ and found out he was the funeral director. And those kids were pretty . . . the shooting was horrific. Without going into detail, he had to take care of all those little bodies.”
Serving others
Bill and Kathy stressed that a part of discipleship is serving others.
“We’ve got a fire in our heart, and we just have to go out and do more of these things,” said Bill. “Everyone has got gifts that they can share with the community.”
Kathy added, “Gifts and kindness are meant to be shared. If everyone did just a little bit, this world would be in so much of a better place. If you have a gift, you should share it.”