Our last two dogs were labs.

One. Every time I think about the black one I have to laugh because I'm seeing his first snow. His ears were really big, hound dog big. Trying to walk on the snow was easier if he used his ears like cross- country skies I guess because he walked on his ears. He must have been like 2 months old then. He lived to 16.

Picked him out of a cardboard box in the back of a car outside a Safeway in Eagle, CO.

We were homeless together for awhile, but I never let go of him. He was with me through years of good life — I took him on my honeymoon, he played with both my kids as they grew up, and he lived to be 16.

I’ve had a few other dogs since then, but never one as important for me. I still keep his ashes out on a shelf in the garage.