Mom's Corner

Hey everybody, my parents' dog writes emails now. You heard me. This is the most recent correspondence with her boyfriend Henry (my cousin's dog):

My Dear Rowdy Henry,

Thank you so much for your informative, entertaining and sweet letter! My, oh my, Henry, you are a talented writer! I even forwarded your letter to Linda, Melissa and Karl who also belong to my family but who live far away.

I would love to be called your "brown eyed girl" if I can call you my Rowdy Henry. Nobody has ever called me that before, and it sounds so tender. I like tender. But I'll tell you a secret, Henry. I love rowdy even more!! I got rowdy at dog park with a young bull mastiff and it was so fun. However, when we wrestled and he fell on my front paw, it kind of hurt for awhile. My Mommy and the owner were friends, and they knew the mastiff didn't mean to hurt me. Honestly, Henry, I think I was more scared than hurt...do you know what I mean? I felt fine in a few hours. The next day my Mommy took me back to the same park to see if I was afraid of it, but she found out I was still excited to play with other dogs. I'm very sorry to hear about your eyelid being bit! I surely hope you're all healed now! I promise when we play together next time that I won't bite you...I'd never bite my Rowdy Henry.

Your trip to Oregon sounded wonderful. I loved seeing the picture of you running in doggie heaven. Thank you for sending it to me. Your paws weren't even touching the ground! I can't wait to see a doggie heaven like that. So far, I think my only doggie heaven is fetching and swimming in the ocean. My paws don't touch the ground there either, ha ha. My Mommy and Daddy told me to tell you that they would love to see you and your family whenever you get down here. My Daddy has changed my backyard, however. He planted some new plants along the back fence, and then he put a wire around them so that I wouldn't run over them like I did the other plants. When I touched the wire with my nose, it gave me a teeny shock. I jumped and ran back to Daddy. He pet me and cuddled me and said "Good Girl Maggie." I don't run close to that wire anymore, but I still fetch and run in the yard.

See you soon!

Your Brown Eyed Girl, Maggie Lou

This moved from funny to uncomfortable right around "I like tender." My Dad's just as creepy. He sits on the couch with his arm around Maggie like she's his girlfriend. I fear Maggie will be sitting at the dinner table with us on Thanksgiving. Maybe a little napkin stuck in her collar or something, eyeing me with jealousy and/or contempt. It's not good.

And it's not just my parents! Jeff's mom sent him a card with paw prints (the dog's paws had been painted and pressed against the envelope). Recently Kristen and her parents were leaving for dinner, and her parents turned to the cat and said "Lucky, we'd take you if we could!" Kristen was like "Um, NO. There is no wishing you could take the cat to dinner."