Puppy love.

The hubs and I took a trip to Charlotte this weekend to see Brad Paisley in concert, and go to Carowinds.

I took the time to reserve some audio books at the library this past week, because I knew that I would be spending more time than usual in the car. My sister called me 3 times last week to tell me to read Marley and Me, so I decided to put it on reserve.

I got an e-mail on Friday saying that it was ready for pick-up, so we picked it up before we left.
We both absolutely loved the book, and for me it put into perspective my feelings about dogs. Growing up I had a chow chow named Sispaugh. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS DOG, and she was with my family for about 11 years. I got her as a Christmas present before I started school, and she passed away when I was in the 10th grade.

To this day, I still think about Sispaugh quite often. When Charles told me he was getting me a puppy for my birthday, I had a bit of dull anxiety about it. I wanted a puppy, but I was already thinking about the prospect of losing her. The only thing I've ever lost that was close to me was Sispaugh, and I couldn't stomach the thought of it happening again.

I think I was scared about the concept of unconditional love and loss.

This is a quote from the end of Grogan's book:

"Was it 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 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.”

I'm a bit nostalgic this morning, so you'll have to forgive me. But, if you haven't read the book, and you love your dog, think you have the world's worst dog, or have lost a dog.... read it.