We all get teary-eyed once in a while, either about something very personal or about a sad event on the news -- perhaps more frequent since ???9/11???. The reasons are endless, and this is not meant to be an endless story.

For perspective only -- please recall that some politicians, not just the one in CA, by the way -- have proposed the elimination or reduction of animal shelters for lost or stray pets, as a way to save money. I will write only that I wish for them that they could fully understand the importance of recovering a pet and the importance of animal friends in God??™s universe. They must have forgotten Coleridge??™s ???Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner??? that ???He made and loveth all....??? Or they need to read it. (To Arnold: ???Sie wissen, es war kein Fehler! Es war kein Missverstandnis. Sie haben einfach ???was Dummes gesagt Wachen Sie auf!???)

My daughter lives in  Brooklyn Heights, a beautiful area, and works at a great fashion and design firm in the greatest city of the world. She visited us recently in the Buffalo, NY area.  All visits come to an end. Even visits home.

Before boarding her flight back to NYC, she cried -- a very normal reaction.  She was going back to the city of eight million from friends and family. But she has a little friend, a Yorkie, whom she takes almost everywhere with her. A  smart and caring little canine. 

At the Buffalo-Niagara Airport, her Yorkie licked her tears.

Amen. 

Dad.

?© 2004 Vance Agee