Photo by Larry Mohr

Now don’t send me hate mail because you love your dog.

I am about to tell you a story about my mother and her dog. Here’s the preface. My mother is fond of her dog. She recognizes that he has been good for her in the years since she’s had him. But today is her birthday and she is turning 87, and she wonders if perhaps he’s getting to be a bit much for her. She’s at a point where she could imagine her life without a dog.

So here’s the story.

One of my brothers shares Mom’s home so she can be there, and another was visiting recently. As Mom often does, she was feeding the dog bits of what she was eating. Only this time it was a chocolate bar.

She said, “Is a little bit of chocolate okay for a dog?”

My visiting brother, who has a dog, said, “No amount of chocolate is okay for a dog.”

To which my mother responded, “But a little bit is not working.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She’s not really trying to off her dog. In fact, when she had an opportunity to “rehome” him, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

I just offer this as a flavoring of my mother’s wit. Even at age 87, with the cognition challenges that come with age, she’s still full of surprises.

For about a year after I launched this blog, I had a weekly feature called Mama Says inviting you into life lessons I’ve learned from her wit. You can still read what Mama Says.

And if you do, wish my mama a happy birthday.