My "little boy!"

It has not been a difficult winter, but all the same, I’m anxious for spring. Spring makes everything come alive again. The old becomes new. It’s such a beautiful time of year.

I often have the opportunity to watch my husband behave like a young boy, still living in the spring of his life. He is young again whenever he walks in the front door after being away for several days and is greeted by our “baby,” our four-year old Beagle, Belle. Sometimes she will start her yelping and crying as soon as she sees his car turn the corner and head down the driveway. But the act is definitely in full swing when my husband walks in the front door.

That’s when I see the little boy with his best friend, his dog. Belle will roll over on her back and my husband will kneel down to rub her belly. “That’s my girl,” he’ll say to her. “Did you miss me?”

I watch him play like a little boy each morning after he’s read the newspaper. He’ll crouch down on the floor with one of Belle’s favorite toys. They’ll roll around and I listen to him laugh like a child. My wonderful husband, and the boy in his heart.

Yes, he’s the “boy” who snuggles in bed each night with his best friend. Not me, mind you, but that little tri-colored dog who has stolen his heart. She wiggles between us nuzzles her head near my husband. When we first got married, I was told that a bed wasn’t a place for a dog. If you talk to my husband now, he’ll tell you that Belle really isn’t a dog. She’s our child, our baby!

Sometimes when he’s talking to our “other” children, he’ll refer to Belle as their little sister! My son takes particular offense to this.

When my wonderful husband takes me out to dinner, he is quick to ask the waiter or waitress for a carry-out box. “We have a special dog at home,” he’ll tell the server. As soon as his plate arrives, he slices off pieces of meat to take home to “the baby.” Once we even went through the drive-thru window at a fast food restaurant to order a hamburger for her, a peace offering because we had been gone for a long while. “No condiments or bun,” he told the cashier, “just the meat, it’s for my dog!” I still wonder to this day what that young person must have thought!

A boy’s best friend is his dog, and my “boy” is living proof. He promises me that “one day” he’ll grow up, but I think we’re forever stuck in spring. Not a bad place to be…which reminds me, I need to order my mulch!

This blog ran as my column, "The Empty Nest" in the Frederick News Post on Sunday March 4, 2012.