The puppy

The boy’s dad sat the puppy in front of his son for the first time. “Train him well,” the dad said. The puppy and the boy looked at each other.  They were friends at first sight.

They became like two pieces of Velcro: They could be separated but there was going to be a lot of noise.  The boy’s mom would laugh when she saw the puppy sleeping on the boy’s head at night.

They were together 24/7 except for when the boy went to school or church.  When the boy walked through the door, there was an explosion of joy.  It was the first lesson the boy taught the boy: Exhibit honest excitement when you see the person you love. The puppy’s love would have made anyone feel like they were the most important person in the world.

As the years passed, the puppy became a dog and the boy became a teenager.  The teenager would take his dog everywhere with him. He sat in the front seat of his truck and they’d go out in the country. The dog would chase rabbits and would swim in the lake with the boy when his friends went waterskiing.  The boy would walk him and give him treats. The dog would get his belly rubbed. They were the best years of his life.

Then one day, the boy went to college.  As the truck drove away, the dog realized he had been left behind. He laid at the door every day, hoping the boy would walk back through it. He didn’t.  The dog would just lay there and wait.

But as the leaves fell off the trees and the air started to get cool, the familiar truck pulled back into the driveway. As the door opened, the dog exploded with glee.  The boy dropped to his knee to greet his best friend. Never had a dog’s heart been filled with more joy.

Four years passed and the dog got four years slower.  Arthritis attacked his joints.  Cataracts fogged his eyes. But his heart beat as strong for the boy as ever.  And his boy felt the same way.  One day the boy came home from college with a piece of paper and a girl. He had graduated and become a man. And with him was the woman who he had asked to be his wife.  The dog really couldn’t see her but because she loved his boy,  he loved her too.

One night, as the dog struggled to breathe, the man picked him up and put him in his lap.  He stroked the dog’s velvety ears and looked at his old friend’s gray face. He then said with moist eyes, “my old friend, I thank you for teaching me everything I know. You taught me to always be loyal. To protect those who I love. And you taught me the art of  greeting people like they are the most important person in the world. You taught me to enjoy the simple things in life, too.  You taught me how to be a friend.  And I’ve been blessed to call you one.”

The boy had taught the dog to sit. The dog lifted his head and weakly wagged his tail. And the dog had taught the boy to love.  He knew had trained his boy well.

Never had he been happier.

The dog passed away a year after the wedding. He was carefully wrapped in his favorite blanket and buried in a place of honor in the backyard.  Soon afterward, the man and woman had a son of their own. And when he was old enough, they got him a puppy, too.  As the man sat the puppy in front of his son he said these words from his heart, “Train him well. Both of you.”

The puppy and the boy looked at each other. It was friendship at first sight.