Marley and Me...and Mickey and Me

Okay, I am not a dog lover. A dog tolerator maybe. I don't dislike them, I just don't necessarily need them in my life. Now, maybe this will change for me later in life when my children don't need me to nurture them as much and I will still need to nurture someone. But for now I live in happy, dog-free house. It hasn't always been this way. I grew up with a dog, Mickey. Named by my sister and I at ages 5 and 1 (okay, maybe Mom helped) because he was so little and he was black, like Mickey Mouse. This is a picture of my sister and I in the tub with Mickey in attendance. Sorry the picture is cropped weird, I didn't want my sister to kill me for exposing us both on the net! He loved to be there and lick the drips of tub water we put on the side for him. I have thought of lots of childhood memories that involved Mickey as I have thought about it today.
I still remember the day my mom called me while I was working at the lumber store my dad managed to tell me that Mickey had died. I had to go in the bathroom and bawl. I was in college and if you do the math you can see he was a part of our family for a long time. Now wait, I said I wasn't a dog lover right? Well that is what the book I just finished will do to you. Marley and Me by John Grogan
Circe recommended it a little while ago and she is very rarely wrong about books I have found, never wrong actually. So even though this didn't really seem like my kind of book I trusted her and tried it. This explains why I was up until after midnight reading the end last night. It was really good. It was good because it is not just a group of stories about a rotten dog. It is the story of this family, and the author, who happen to have made this nutty dog part of their family. It was very funny, although very honest about the grossness a huge ole dog can create. And I warn you to have kleenex around when you get close to the end, I mean lets face it we know the dog is not going to live to be 50 right? But when it is all over you may find yourself like I am today thinking of dogs you have known and maybe haven't thoght of in awhile. Or worse yet, almost wishing for one to come live at your house...just kidding!

A few of us are going to try a little book club. We are going to read Peace like a river in the next three weeks if you would like to join we would love to have you! Tif has more info.