Understanding Emma

Today, when we sent our son out the front door to walk down to his PaPa's to go to school, Emma was in the backyard. She heard him leaving and went crazy. After letting her in, she bee-lined to the front door, and I let her out. She ran down the stairs and towards the street, and I FLIPPED. She never runs away like that. But she met up with the kiddo, he petted her and she came back (he was just at the end of the drive).

I told Adam, "You sent her boy away without letting her say goodbye!"

His response? "This book is making you try WAY too hard to understand our dog."

What is Emma's purpose? In the book, as Bailey, the dog's purpose was to love his boy. From the age of 8 until college, Bailey was by his boy's side until old age defeated his golden retriever body.

As Ellie the german shepherd, her job was to search and rescue missing persons - and she saved many lives as a police dog.

As Emma, her purpose is to....love the boy? No, she doesn't pay much attention to him. Love the girl? Yes, she loves her, but she doesn't seek her out. To be man's best friend? No, they aren't best friends, though they like each other. Of all of us, she's most loyal and seeks me out for love. She sits on the couch with me and no one else. I can make her do tricks and play. But more than anything, I think her purpose is to just be part of a family. We rescued her as a beaten, abandoned pup. Perhaps her purpose was just to give us closure after the death of our own golden retriever pup - and then to just be there as our family grew.

For us, she's just...Emma. And that's not a bad thing at all. I just hope that when her end comes (she's already 10), that she can look back and think "Yeah, that was a good life. I was loved and loved back."

Isn't that what we all hope for?