Since 2012, a golden retriever named Isabelle has made it her mission to spread joy and comfort throughout her community. When she’s not volunteering at her local hospitals, schools and assisted living facilities, Isabelle can usually be found loving on her humans at home or anyone she meets outdoors.
But recently, the tables turned for Isabelle when she received a heartfelt gift.
It all started on Isabelle’s first day home as a young puppy, when she and her dad, Dan Logan, went to the pet supplies store. After picking out toys and food, Logan and Isabelle entered the clothing aisle, where a pink bandana caught their attention.
Logan purchased the bandana, took it home and washed it before showing it to Isabelle again. When he did, she had an unexpected reaction.
“After it was washed, she saw it, and her ears perked up,” Logan told The Dodo. “She ran to me to put it on, and the rest is history.”
But it wasn’t just the pink bandana that made Isabelle’s tail whip in a frenzy. Logan presented her with new bandanas often, and each one made her just as excited as the next.
“Every morning, she comes into my room, lowers her head and waits for a new one,” Logan said. “She seems to love them.”
Over the next 12 years, Logan and Isabelle collected more than 500 bandanas — some themed for holidays, many of them monogrammed and a few gifted from other countries. Just like her ability to love, there was no limit to Isabelle’s bandana collection, which sparked a brilliant idea in Logan’s cousin: She wanted to make a quilt using the pup’s bandanas.
“She had a vision to make something that I would have to always remember Isabelle,” Logan said.
Over a month and a half, Logan’s cousin consolidated Isabelle’s bandanas into approximately 288 4-inch squares. When she brought the finished product over a few weeks later, Logan couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I could not speak when I saw it; I just filled up with happy, wonderful tears,” Logan said.
Logan was elated with his cousin’s gift, and Isabelle felt the same way when she saw it.
“She [lay] on it, she wore it on her head,” Logan said. “She is just happy always.”
Logan has always known that Isabelle was a unique girl — she has a knack for befriending even the most skeptical cats and sniffing out grieving strangers who need her hugs the most. But something about seeing his best friend lying on her quilt of bandanas, each square representing an unforgettable memory, reaffirms just how special she is.
“Each morning, I see that sparkle in her eye and the slow wag of her tail, ready to spend another day by my side,” Logan said. “All I know is I have been blessed with her.”
