I just wanted to thank you for your wonderful organization, your selfless volunteers, and your miraculous pets. We have a good friend, Mrs. Beatrice Weiss, who is a longterm patient at Broward Institute in Pompano Beach. Over a decade ago, Bea was a live-in nanny for our son, Eric, who is now 16 years old. We live in NJ, and visit Bea down in Florida whenever we can. Bea is like a grandmother to our son Eric, who taught him to read and laugh. She was like a Mom to me when my own mother passed away in the early 1990's.

We visited Bea over New Years weekend, after not being able to come down for several years. She is an ailing 80 year old who is bedridden. But she told us she gets out of bed every week, going out into the courtyard in her wheelchair, to meet a special friend---a golden retriever named Tenzin. I read your newspaper article about Tenzin and Bea--and how it was Tenzin who first got her out of her bed in Dec 2005. It's posted proudly in her room.

We visited her for several hours this weekend, laughing and sharing old memories. But the name that she mentioned more than any other was Tenzin. "His name is Tenzin," she kept saying over and over. "I was eating a banana one day and he snuck over to my bed, stuck his nose under the bed railing, and ate the banana. Since then, every week when he comes, I get him a banana."

Your wonderful dog changed her life---he adds cuddly warmth, friendship and a sense of worth to an old lady who is ailing and lonely, who often feels forgotten. Tenzin brings out the spark, humor and self-esteem in a very special person, because he is able to genuinely say (as the old song goes), "Hello in There!" This is a lady who always loved animals, always had pets. Dogs, cats, birds who talked. It is unfortunate that our institutions don't permit animals to live-in and always be around for our aging and ailing. It would do so much to ease their pain and give them a feeling that life is worth living. But thank God for your organization, which provides that creature comfort with animals once a week for needy people.

I gave a "silver donation" which is only a gesture of gratitude. Thank you for the priceless gift you have given Bea.

Sincerely, Kris Hintz