MY BROTHER'S BIRTHDAY...AND MY '3D' WISH

 Tomorrow, January 20, is my big brother’s birthday. Durward would be 80 tomorrow. How I wish he was around so I could celebrate this special birthday with him. I have not seen Durward in 43 years …as he was lost in an auto accident that many years ago. Durward was a wise big brother, a very intelligent, loving son, brother, husband and dad.

I was just a teen when I lost him…a little too immature to know of Durward’s wisdom and counsel… a little oblivious of the ways of the world…and not yet realizing the value of a loving family. I had a loving family…I just didn’t know it…and appreciate it…like I do today.

As I think about tomorrow…and Durward…I also can’t help but think of our brother… David…who I lost last spring to lung cancer. Last month… December… was Dave’s birthday. My heart hurt a little on that day…as I truly missed not having the opportunity to call Dave and wish him a happy birthday…and hear his voice…and hear him laugh.

Having just celebrated my own birthday a few weeks ago… how I would treasure having gotten a call from both brothers and hear them wish me a happy birthday.

As I think more about the three of us boys…the 3 D’s…my mind wanders…trying to conjure up in my memory banks…if I have ever seen a photograph of the 3 of us boys…together. I’ve got pictures of Dave and me…and Dave and Durward…but I have no photo of the 3 of us. I wonder if one exists? I wonder if somewhere…pushed back into the back of an old desk drawer…or in a box of old pictures on a closet shelf…if someone in the family…or old friend of the family … doesn’t have a picture of the 3 of us?

If it exists…I’d love to have a copy of it. It would be placed in a special frame…and hang in a special place in my home…so I could see it every day as I walked by…and smile.

Until I find it...Happy Birthday Durward.

Dan

A DOG'S PURPOSE

‘A Dog’s Purpose’, by W.Bruce Cameron. This is the title of a book that Cindy had written on her Christmas wish list that she wanted to read. I talked to Santa about it and he apparently dropped it off and put it in her stocking in the late hours of Christmas Eve/Christmas morning.

Over the following few days after Christmas, Cindy read one of her other books Santa brought and then read ‘A Dog’s Purpose’…then passed it on to me to read. I asked her if she liked it and she said ‘yes’. I asked her if it was sad and had it made her cry and she said…”Not a lot…but some. It was very interesting. I’ll be interested to see what you think of it.” She went on to say the book is written from the perspective of… ‘the dog’.

Over the following few days…while I was finishing the first book that Cindy read…and after Cindy read A Dog’s Purpose…Cindy got very interested in some new puppies that were born to someone through her work. Having lost our dog Zoe this past fall, we both notice it has been different around the house since Zoe left. We still think of Zoe often and miss her being around. I think Cindy is ready for another dog to come into the family...but to be honest…I just am not interested in having another dog. (see prior blog articles I wrote in August).

Now…fast forward a few weeks…and my heart has softened. Mainly because I have finally gotten to, and finished, the book Cindy asked Santa to bring. I have read…A Dog’s Purpose.

If you are a dog owner…or a dog lover…or someone who recalls younger years when a very important dog was a part of your life…I would encourage you to read the book. So as not to play the role of ‘spoiler’…I will not give any details besides those that Cindy gave me…that the book is written from the perspective of… ‘the dog’.

A Dog’s Purpose is very intriguing…it is a story you have not thought of…it has moments of hilarity, and… as with any good book… it leaves you…‘thinking’…at the end.

My thoughts of... ‘not being interested in having another dog’…have softened a little…now that I have read the book. There seems to be a little voice sitting on one shoulder reminding me of all the challenges and occasional frustrations that come with having a dog in the house. But on the other shoulder…is a voice reminding me of the fun times and enjoyment that we had with our black lab Layla and golden retriever Zoe over the last 20 years that they were with us.

Which voice I’m going to pay the most attention to…is yet to be determined. I know for sure, that I better not go see those new pups that Cindy was talking about recently…because I know that God made puppies cute for one reason…so we would take one home!

Whatever the case of what happens at the Clark household… I encourage you to find and read a good, feel good book… A Dog’s Purpose.

You will smile a lot…nod your head a lot…laugh a lot…and shed a tear… as you recall the memories of years past…with you…and your dog.

Dan