Family of Four

We all say and do things that we regret. So, I may have accidentally promised my parents EIGHT YEARS AGO that if they got me a dog I would take him after I graduated college. What parents would actually enforce a promise made that long ago? I also said that I was going to be an astronaut and marry Tom Cruise – nobody is holding me to those statements. Why, for some strange reason, they thought I meant it when I told them I would take Shadow is beyond me. Nonetheless, here he sits, at my feet as I type.

Shadow is no ordinary dog; he has a mind for mischief. Last year, when we were dog sitting, Ben had made 16 cupcakes on the eve of my birthday. When we woke up the next morning there were only six left. We never found a crumb! He ate the wrappers and all!! TEN CUPCAKES!!! Once he ate half of a ham my mom made when we were about to have a general authority visit for dinner. That was stressful. On another occasion, he pulled a jar of peanut butter down off a shelf in the cupboard, somehow got the lid off, and licked the entire jar clean except for the last inch because his tongue couldn’t reach. We frequently find snicker wrappers in his ‘remains’. I was really mad at him when he ate the two boxes of tagalong girl scout cookies my mom bought for me. He has a desperate need to dig and does so any chance he gets. He thinks that beds were made for his comfort and that the trash can is his dog bowl. Are you starting to see the picture? I could go on….

Don’t get me wrong, we love Shadow! He is part of the family. I just want to visit him instead of live with him. However, one good thing in all this is that Sadie adores him. Her little neck is always whipping back and forth in search of him. She chases him all around the house in her walker. She’s getting pretty good at it too. She has figured out how to get up speed and then she rams him. Poor dog. He hides under the table now when he sees me head for the walker. The only thing he likes about her is that she drops food on the ground.

Hopefully, we will all survive our time together. And in closing, may I say that I have learned my lesson and will no longer make promises that I haven’t thoroughly thought through. I hope my parents will put into practice what they have always taught me: forgive and forget! PLEASE!!!!