Ninety-two-year-old Sally Rewehooeern has been a widow for nearly three decades, and she’s lived alone in her Vernon, Washington, home all that time. It can get lonely, but that loneliness is eased by a steadfast companion who recently entered and brightened the life of this Holland native.
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Sally had moved to Washington state in 1953 from Holland, where she spent her childhood cavorting with the animals on the family farm. Perhaps it’s because of that early familiarity with animals that she developed an especially close bond with her neighbor David Mazzarella’s St. Bernard, Brody, and his “big” brother Lulu.
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When the Mazzarellas introduced them to their sweet neighbor, it was pretty much love at first sight. Young Brody took such a liking to Sally that he instantly became her big, furry shadow. They became Sally’s constant companions, tagging along with her on all her daily errands.
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“He just wanders round into my house on his own whenever he fancies it which takes me back to my days growing up on farms surrounded by dogs in Holland,”Sally said.
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David had already been sharing photos of Sally, Blizzard and Lulu on Instagram, and he’s now doing the same with Sally and Brody. And since there’s nothing that melts hearts more than watching a budding friendship develop between an elderly widow and her neighbor’s dog, the images were an instant hit.
“The first day I brought Brody home he wandered off and sure enough he ended up at Sally’s house,” David recalled. “Now every day when she is outside doing yard work or walking to the mailbox or going to church he follows her.“
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Don’t forget to share this story if your heart melted even just a little bit, and to remind your friends it’s always a sweet gesture to visit elderly neighbors and nursing homes with your pet.
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