Morgan Makes An Impression

In Mr. Taleteller's family, there are a total of nine siblings.  Six of his brothers and sisters are adopted, and the youngest is going to be in seventh grade this year.  They were a foster family for many years, mainly fostering children with serious medical needs or having some other particular special circumstances, and six of them just never left. 

One of his brothers has a particular fascination with dogs and birthdays.  He has a sort of love-hate relationship with dogs, truth be told.  On one hand, he asks us about ours constantly when we go down to visit and don't take the dogs with us, wanting to know where they are and what they're doing there.  A few days after we brought Morgan home, we took her down to visit the family.  They were all very excited to meet Morgan because they all know how Mr. Taleteller has longed for a German Shepherd of his own.  She was a little nervous on first meeting, and my husband kept her on a leash so that everyone could get used to her. 

Of course, this one particular brother, Number Seven, was fascinated and terrified of Morgan all at the same time.  He wanted to see her, but not get close enough to touch her.  There were endless questions and Mr. Taleteller did his best to assure Number Seven that Morgan was A Nice Dog.  Finally, to assuage Number Seven, Mr. Taleteller told him that Morgan's birthday is November 8.  Number Seven is obsessed with birthdays and immediately his computer brain latched on to that bit of information, processed it, and in his mind, she became a member of the family.

Mr. Taleteller tries to do some special things with each of his siblings while they're off school on summer break.  He takes Number Eight and Number Nine on bike rides with him, but Number Seven is deaf and visually impaired, so biking is not an issue for him because his balance is affected.  So, Mr. Taleteller invited him to go on a hike with him and Morgan.  During the walk, Number Seven was fine with Morgan and seemed to do just fine.  When they returned to our house, he was back to being afraid of  her, but she was persistant in getting him to acknowledge her.  Once in the van, he was fine with her again.

We weren't really sure what he thought of Morgan.  However, we got a better idea of how he felt about her the other day when Mr. Taleteller dropped by their house.  He was presented with a present from Number Seven.  I think Morgan won him over.

Wait until Morgan's birthday arrives.  I'm sure he'll have some very special artwork for her that day.  He never forgets a birthday and he always does special artwork for the occasion.  I'm glad Morgan managed to make a good impression on him!  As for how Morgan felt about Number Seven, I've yet to see her meet a child that she hasn't been happy to see and very gentle with.  You'd think she'd bowl them over with her puppy exhuberance, but she digs deep into her powers of reserve with them and is always a very good girl.