Our Marley, Buddy

One of my favorite books is Marley & Me by John Grogan. It is a wonderful, moving book. My favorite quote from the book is "Was is possible for a dog-any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours - to point humans to the things that really mattered in life? I believed it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy. And the things that did not matter, too. A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not."

We have our own four-legged boy living with us. His name is Buddy. He is a labradoodle. His dad is a standard poodle and his mom is a yellow lab. He is a few months shy of being two years old. He, like Marley, has his moments and we have stories to tell. As a puppy, he had a fetish with socks. Fortunately, they all passed and that interest has passed as well. Buddy has added more to our family than words could tell. When I reach down to pet him, to take him for a walk or to throw the ball with him, I remember the quote from Mr. Grogan's book and as hard as it is, I try to make that my mantra to live by.