A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

I first met Ella, my grandson Zach's English Cream Golden Retriever, at my house where Zach showed up to help with tree decorating. I managed to "help" by keeping the puppy on my lap.

But then Zach went to school in New York City and couldn't bring Ella with him. So Zach's mom and baby sister wound up taking care of the pup.

Of course, in these pictures she already looks like she's my dog, but truly, Ella is like that with the most random strangers as well.

Still, she did wind up as mine, after all.

One of my favorite things to notice was the way little Gianna would say the dog's name. At first, it was a feathery "Ell LA" spoken as delicately as a fairy's kiss. But a couple of weeks later, she was barking, "ELL LA!!" in a tone that would cow any platoon of marines. Clearly she had picked up on Mommy's frustration with having a puppy that sheds and chews on everything.

We solved that problem not long after by turning Ella over to me.