The start of the month, our dog Grace, a golden retriever, forgot she was a middle-aged dog and got a little too frisky chasing a small creature in our neighborhood. I don’t know whether it was a squirrel, cat, or that enigmatic fox I see lurking about at night in Murray Hill, but whatever it was, she didn’t manage to catch it and instead must have lost her footing, stumbled and sprained her shoulder. She limped slowly back to the house and the next day continued to favor one foot. By the third day I took her to the vet and he put her on an anti-inflamatory and recommended she take it easy for at least a week– no long walks. Suddenly my husband Peter and I were walking downtown in the morning and evening without our companion Grace.
“Where’s Grace?” everyone asked us. “What happened to your dog?” they wanted to know. I had no idea Grace was so popular, or maybe I did know.
At any rate, Grace has recovered and is once again walking all the way downtown. The tradition continues. Our last child, Grace our golden, is still our constant companion.
Nadja Maril, Writer & Author 