Only after his deposit was cashed did he notice the fine print: no pets
Bernie Hillstein (name changed) had finally conceded he could no longer live alone and had to enter an assisted living facility.
He’d always craved warmer weather. So when Bernie found an assisted living complex in southern Florida, he hurriedly signed the lease. Only after his deposit was cashed did he notice the fine print: no pets, including service animals, were allowed in the assisted living facility.
When Ethel, his wife of 56 years, had passed away six years prior, Bernie welcomed Oakland into his home on the advice of his doctors. Oakland was Bernie’s German shepherd service-guide dog, and constant companion. Without Oakland, Bernie doesn’t know how he would have survived Covid. As he and Ethel had no children and his own eyesight was failing, without Oakland in the apartment, Bernie would have suffered the greatest pain of all: complete loneliness.
Bernie came to my office and begged me to help him get some waiver or exception to the no-pets rule.
Create a free account to keep reading.
