I thought you would be interested in the family dog when I was a youngster. My father was a physician and in the very early 1950’s he went to Dallas for a medical meeting. As they left the Adolphus Hotel for lunch a dog came up to my Dad wagging his tail as if he new him. Dad as usual bent to greet the dog and see if he was okay. After that they went on to a restaurant and when they left the restaurant to return to the hotel the dog was there and again greeted Dad as if he knew him. The dog was also outside the hotel when my Dad emerged from the hotel after the meeting. Dad worried about the dog but was unable to do anything as his friend was leaving and Dad was staying with them in a Dallas suburb. The first of the many remarkable things this dog did was that he showed up at the home of Dad’s friend later that night. Dad’s friend said since the dog was obviously attracted to him that he should take him home to North Dakota with him. Dad said they should try finding the rightful owner, as he would feel terrible if some children lost their dog.

Dad returned home and a week or so later his friend called and told him that they were unable to find the dog’s owners so he was going to send the dog to Dad in North Dakota. The dog arrived and Dad called him Stranger and Stranger lived with us throughout my childhood. Dogs always came up to my Dad as if he was their long lost friend so a lot of this wasn’t odd to us but Stranger was a remarkable dog. He would walk me to grade school in the morning, be there at noon to walk back with me for lunch. I thought he stayed out there all morning waiting for me but he always returned home to spend the day with my mother. When we went on a vacation we left Stranger with the vet. As we drove back into town we were all excited as we were going to see Stranger after six weeks of separation. Dad stopped at the vet’s and the vet said Stranger had chewed through the cage and disappeared the first week. Well we went home dejected, worried about Stranger. We should not have been concerned because as we drove up to our house Stranger came off the front porch running up to us. He looked fine, as well fed as always despite being on his own for well over a month. After we unloaded the car Dad and I went out to the front porch and there scattered all around were rabbit bones mostly but other varmints also. The dog had gone home and fed himself while waiting for our return.

There are many more such exploits but this isn’t the place for that. Stranger was, as was Sprite, a real member of my family and my best friend. To this day I usually prefer the company of dogs to people.

Thank you for your support of our nation’s military.

Calyton from AK