I want a dog

That statement seems simple enough. Heather and I have said that over the past 9 years, but it never meant anything...until now.

We have always talked about getting a dog, but it was never more than a passing comment; something to think about for a few seconds, and then move on. Recently, the, "I want a dog" comment was starting to get a little more attention. For whatever reason, after years of it meaning absolutely nothing, it turned into a want that had to be fullfilled. I can't explain how this happened. For me, it may have been the fact that I read Marley and Me, a book about a yellow lab. Ok. I didn't read it. I listened to it on my iPod, but it's all the same. Anyways, I liked the book. It wasn't so much about having a dog as having a companion. For some reason, I thought it would be great to have a loyal companion that I could share life's trivialities with. But in the end, I thought the dog could bring more value to the family. I hate to use that old cliche "more value" like the family is a business, but I can't describe it any other way. Wouldn't a dog bring us closer together in some ways? Would it be a good tool to teach Jenna responsibility? Would we go on camping trips or trips to the lake to watch the dog swim? Would we ever consider going on trips like that if not for a dog to motivate us, or to bring us together?

As I reflected on all this, I thought it was pretty unfair to the poor dog. We don't even have one picked out yet, and I'm counting on it to teach my daughter responsibility and to bring us uncountable happy family moments that my children would cherish for the rest of their lives.

In the end, I think having a dog will do all of those things. Most importantly, we wanted to add another member to our family. Heather and I decided on a Sunday that we would seriously look into getting a dog.

After 9 years of saying it, we really meant it this time when we said, "I want a dog."