Bob, Bob Bobbing Along
 

     When I was a kid, my friend who lived up the street had two things I thought were great a mother who cooked homemade meals every night and a Golden Retriever named New Year.
     New Year must have obviously been named for the day they got her- lucky they didn't get her on Halloween, the day we got Bob. It would have been a scary name to carry through life.
     Bob is the dog I've waited most of my life for I had always admired New Year because I was sure she saved my life when I was about 7 and running from a bulldog that I was sure was going to take a nip out of my behind. I loved golden retrievers from that moment forward.
     Bob was already named by the people from whom we got him; and my husband had always wanted to name a dog Gates, after our favorite BBQ sauce from Kansas City. So Bob is Bob Gates and many people who can't remember a Bob from a Bill think he was named after Mr. Microsoft. He wasn't.
     We can't have kids; Bob is our child. I want him to live forever. Before Bob came along, I felt like something major was missing from my life. I was stressed and many times felt empty. Life is so much more interesting with that happy boy. Sometimes I think his tail will fall off- he wags it so much.
     Bob is beautiful, funny, caring, friendly, adorable, playful and occasionally moody. I was able to begin working at home a year ago and I was so happy not to leave Bob alone any more. My husband and I both had long commutes and it was so hard to leave him for hours. Now I get to walk him around a lake every morning where he can see his human girlfriends and sniff his canine buddies.
     We have always called Bob a Golden Keeper, because he doesn't want to give us the things he retrieves. Throw him a ball, he'll sit down and chew it.
     The thing that makes Bob the happiest is making people happy. He'll smile back at them and look at my husband or I as if to say: "Look, he's petting me ain't that great?!
     Bob thinks he's human and I like to treat him with respect. I apologize if I step on his tail, I always tell him how much I love him, I ask him what he wants to do. I'm sure some of the time he wonders what the heck I'm talking about, but he listens. It's hard to describe the depth of the love I feel for him  I am just so glad to wake up every day with his head or bottom in my face.



Entry written by Cheryl Blumenthal Olvera of Fremont, CA

 


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