A Series of Dogs
Life is a series of dogs. —Comedian George Carlin
There's an old, goofy joke about an agnostic, dyslexic skeptic who doubted the existence of dog. For me though, folks, when it comes to dogs, I'm a true believer.
Do you remember my dog Biscuit, who dreamed of chasing squirrels? (Click on the underlined link if you want to see that blog post again.) Shortly after I wrote about Biscuit last summer, she got really sick and had to go to the animal hospital. After running many tests, the veterinarian discovered Biscuit had an inoperable malignant tumor on her bladder. The vet said it was time for her to leave us to go to dog heaven (which I'm pretty sure is right next to—and overlaps in many places with—people heaven). And though it was quite a sad time, our family said goodbye to our wonderful, silly friend. Gosh, everybody, I really miss her.
It seemed only natural for our family to grieve for a season about dear Biscuit. Then at Christmas, we went to the animal shelter to visit with the dogs who didn't have a family yet. And there was Lake! My wife knew immediately that Lake was supposed to be our new family member. It took me about 20 seconds to reach the same conclusion, but I figured it out.
Lake is an excellent canine with a curlicue tail. She likes to race through the dog door into the back yard, then reverse course and crash back into the house lickety-split. Then repeat. And repeat again. And again. And one more time. And again. Yeah.
Folks, if your family:
has never had a dog in it,
is currently between dogs,
is maybe short a dog or two right now,
I think you should look into your heart and decide whether it might be the right time to get your family a Biscuit or a Lake. Because yes, it is the right time.