Bratwurst & Me

If you like reading and crying, you need to read the book Marley & Me.   Ok, the crying isn't necessary part of the experience, unless you're an emotional sap when it comes to dogs, like me.  If you're up for an emotional journey about life and love with a family and their dog, I highly recommend reading it.  

I'm enjoying my short summer vacation before my last semester of college begins later this month.  ( I say its my last, but my mother is convinced I'll be returning to school eventually.  I tell her I'm done with being tortured, two degrees later.) I love reading.  I can't read much during school because I'm stuck reading about $0.75 accounting errors and fraud (it is torture, trust me), so to celebrate, I read Marley & Me, a book for pleasure.  It was amazing, beats out any accounting book I've ever read, not necessary stiff competition.  However, to an outsider, this afternoon, as I was finishing the book, would have looked anything but pleasurable.  

I sat outside on the grass, in the miserable Texas heat, but I was with my dog Bratwurst, so it made it bearable.  (Yes, he's named after a sausage, he's a mini-dachshund. The other name options were Oscar and Frankie... Bratwurst was the obvious choice. ) Back to the story... as Bratwurst was running around the backyard chasing a possessed squirrel and digging in the forbidden garden, I sat sobbing my eyes out while reading the book.  As tears hit the pages of my book, my sweet puppy came running over and sat next to me, forgetting the squirrel and the prospect of getting more mud on his paws from the garden.  That's true love.  As his big, sweet brown eyes looked up at my tear stained face, I could see the love he has for me.  

He's always there, always by my side.  No matter what I'm doing, he's there.  He studies with me, even if it means I can't take him for a w-a-l-k because I'm cramming for yet another accounting test.  He sits patiently waiting for my return, as I go off to class.  He takes naps with me on the couch after a long day of learning about debits and credits.  My favorite time with him is in the morning.  We both groan when we hear the alarm go off, and go off again and again because the snooze button is too convenient.  When he finally senses movement from me, he bounces all over my bed, so excited to get up and start another day.  

I've learned a lot from Bratwurst.  A dog's love is pure, selfless.  He finds pleasure out of life's simple joys.  Bratwurst will never win a doggie gold medal for obedience, but he's won my heart.