Army private Hannah Foraker left her home in Cleveland for three months to undergo basic training in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. When she finally returned home for a visit just before Christmas, her dog Buddy could barely contain her excitement.
“When I came home we let her outside and, at first, she didn’t realize I was home,” the 21-year-old soldier said, according to Huffington Post. “Then, she did a double-take and came back to me. That’s when she started crying and whimpering. She was so excited.”
Foraker added that Buddy was “so excited” that she “couldn’t even stand up.”
Leaving Buddy, a 13 year-old golden retriever, had been particularly difficult for Foraker as well since the pair had grown up together.
“It pulled at my heartstrings, to say goodbye, though having never actually left home before I didn’t realize the importance of giving proper goodbyes,” said Foraker, now a biomedical equipment specialist at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.
Buddy is now mostly deaf and she suffers from arthritis, so Foraker is worried she will only get worse before her next visit in November. Today, she uses Skype to keep in touch with her dog and family.
“Even though she doesn’t realize what’s going on, she feeds off the energetic excitement of the room and my voice through the speaker,” Foraker said. “It’s always so sweet when she starts licking the laptop!”
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