Molly, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Things I'm going to miss about Molly not being a part of our family anymore:
1. What the heck am I going to do with my peanut butter jars? Nothing made Molly any happier when we went to see her than to give her an almost-empty peanut butter jar. She'd have that sucker licked clean in less than five minutes. Being part German Shepherd and having a long pointy snout helped on that aspect.
2. What dog am I going to talk about when folks are telling dog stories? Molly is the closest thing to a pet dog we've had since we married. Her living with Libby and Dexter and us visiting her there was the ideal situation for folks who can't be bothered with taking the responsibility of caring for a dog of their own...
3. Is there a dog anywhere who is much better trained? I hope Molly's new family appreciates all the work that went in to training her as far as table manners are concerned--they're surely not going to find another dog like her, who is tall enough to see what is on the table and well-enough mannered to leave it alone.
4. I'll miss the bruises on my legs from her tail wagging--boy, could she wag that sucker hard!
5. I'll miss my mount in the Derby--I could just straddle her. I didn't try to see if she could bear my weight--doesn't matter, I'm not a jockey anyway. (Hey remember, I said she was big!)
6. I'll miss introducing her to Cora Sophie. Molly was great with babies. She would walk around them so carefully, never stepping on them, knocking them over, or anything. And she didn't seem to mind if they used her for something to pull up on.
7. I remember how sweet she was with my mama. Mama dearly loved all dogs. I think Molly was special to her, though, because she had a German Shepherd as a child. When Mama was living out her last year at the nursing home, Libby brought Molly to visit her. Molly had never been to the facility before, but she was a dog on a mission when she got there--she was looking for Ann. She headed down the hall, past the nurses' station, and straight into Ann's room. Then she sat down on the floor and waited for Ann to come in, too. It absolutely shocked us--Mom wasn't in the room, but Molly knew which room was hers and was willing to wait until she showed up.
8. I'll miss Deck's stories about Molly and her sister and mother. See, Molly was part of a family of great dogs. Zena, the mom, had three pups, Molly, Bertha, and unnamed pup. My BFF in my home town had adopted all four dogs when their original owner had threatened to put them down. They were, like I said, great dogs. Unnamed pup found a home of her own, but BFF kept Molly, Bertha, and Zena. BFF and her husband have out-of-town family (WAY out of town family--out of the state, and almost out of the country!) that they visit at least once a year. While they were gone, the mother and her daughters often stayed at Libby's house. It was a pleasure to see the three of them interacting with each other. It was also fun to watch them eating--they had to lie down before they got their food. (This was to keep Bertha from eating everyone's dinner.) And, according to Deck, "Three big dogs make a big pile of dog waste!"

Oh, well. I do hope Molly is happy in her new home. I am really going to miss her, big pile of dog waste and all!

Good night to all, and God bless.