Ernest Meets the Man, and Unconditional Love
One night last week we walked our golden retrievers past two kids riding their bikes on the other side of the street. A man stood on his porch watching over them. The little girl saw us and ran up to her dad and asked if she could pat the dogs. "You have to ask their owners," he replied. We don't know very many people in our neighborhood. It's a small city, and people tend to stick to themselves. Everyone is busy and has their own problems, it seems. The most time we get to interact with the neighbors is when we are walking the dogs. We've gotten to know other dog lovers, and we also have learned who is afraid of dogs so we try to respectfully keep the dogs in close when we pass by. The girl just looked, so I stopped. "Would you like to meet Petey and Ernest?" I asked. She nodded. My husband and I crossed over. The girl's brother stopped riding and came over too. They were a little hesitant, but soon they were happily patting the dogs and giggl...