You'll be the coolest ...

That is what my niece's teacher said anyway when I told her I wore my Flash T-shirt just for the kids.

I was doing a little talk on service dogs, but Mrs. L said that because they are first-graders, the questions could be about anything.

The questions, though, were quite on-target. I did get asked how I go up and down stairs, but other than that, pretty good and basic stuff: How old, what does she eat, can she do this or that. It was the first service dog talk I have given where someone didn't ask, does she sleep in your bed? So I've got no beef with the kids.

The big hit was when Claren turned off the lights. Someone asked if she could and while she can we had not tried in several years. Claren was up to it, of course. The hardest part was maneuvering into place so she could see the lights. When she got the switch, they cheered.

My niece must have told them no petting so no one asked, but they did ask if they could shake hands and so that was the last thing.

It was fun. If I could talk about Claren full time, I would.

My sister said her daughter was as proud as a mother hen. I am not sure why some of my nieces assume they are my mother but they do.

Here is the speech:

Hi, my name is Matt, and I am Katherine's uncle.

Because my body does not work like yours, I use of special tools to help me. I use a wheelchair to get around. I have a big pole next to my bed to help me get into and out of bed.

But the best tool I have is my service dog Claren.

I got Claren six years ago when most of you were little babies. She is from a group called CCI, which stands for Canine Companions for Independence.

They are in New York so I went up there for two weeks to learn how to take care of her.

Since then, she has gone everywhere with me. I take her to work, to doctors' office, to the dentist.

I take her with me because I am never sure when I will need her. If I drop my cellphone, I can just ask Claren to get it.

She does the hard work of picking up the phone, but we are a team and it is my job to encourage her to get it. I don't want her to get bored.

You all actually have something in common with Claren. You carry your lunch boxes to school every day, right? Well, she carries my lunch bag to work every day.

Her favorite game is tug of war, so she likes to help me pull my shirt or socks or gloves. I'm not taking my shoes off but I brought one of my gloves.

If I put something she can tug on a door or cabinet or even the refrigerator, she is also good at opening them.

She also does all the things dogs do like sit and down and roll.

One of the hardest things about having a service dog is that they are so cute and helpful that everyone wants to pet them. But when other people pet Claren, it actually makes her job harder. Claren works really hard to pay attention to me so when people pet her it distracts her. That's why you aren't supposed to pet service dogs.

I am lucky, in a lot of ways. I do get to pet her. And i get to tell her our favorite command: lap.

Thanks.