The Best of Friends

They say dogs are man's best friend.  This is not new information.  But it feels especially true for me right now. 

The week before Peppy went to her new home, my friend Amy asked me if she could send over a photographer to capture the pups and me.  And so for an afternoon, my photographer, my friend Tanja, and I tried to wrangle my dogs to both sit still and look forward (and happy).  Below, you see the results.  

I look at these pictures and they remind me of my joyful life at that Round Rock parsonage.  They remind me of the day my seminary roommates picked up Wylie from a Fort Worth shelter after I sent them to look at a completely different (and much smaller) dog.  They remind me of the day I met my friend Megan Peglar halfway in Waco to look at a little tan-haired terrier and brought Peppy home instead.

They remind me of how I've agonized over those dogs as a part of answering this call, and how one day in September it all worked out.  Still, this is the hardest part.  I heard somewhere recently that the evolutionary history of people and dogs are so intertwined that now we literally cannot exist without each other.

When my seminary friend, Heather, told me that her family would take Peppy she said, "This feels like family taking care of family here."

Wylie will be with me until Wednesday, stay with my parents a few months, and finally land at Megan Peglar's house, where his best dog friend from the early years is waiting for lots more walks and kisses.

I really do have the best of friends.