I was waiting for church to begin this morning and my mind drifted to my Mom and how I wish I could be with her on Mother’s Day. We talked yesterday and decided to meet up next week for her birthday then we also could celebrate Mother’s Day at the same time. “Sounds like a plan,” I told her. But today with the rain coming down, I began to think about various people and how much they mean to me whether they are mothers or not.

Then my mind drifted to Cocoa Joy and I wondered, “If Cocoa could give me something for Mother’s Day, what it would be? Would she give me a well-chewed sock (a friend gave her several pairs of socks for Christmas a few years ago, a half destroyed ball that no longer squeaks (we have a dozen of these), one of her prized leopard-spotted EEs (these remain her favorite toy because when she squeaks one, it goes EE, EE, EE!), some rouge pull toy that has seen better days or her latest favorite Hurl A Squirrel (We got it when we moved to the mountains)?”

My house is usually awash in dog toys. Fact is, I’ve given up trying to keep the dog toys in the toy bin because they are pulled out, played with for a few minutes, and then left in all kinds of strange places. The other night I got up to get a glass of water and halfway down the hallway, I stepped on a stuffed cow that began mooing at me.

Honestly, I don’t know what she would give me and I certainly don’t know what I would do without Cocoa. Maybe she would give me nothing more than what she gives me every day and that is unconditional love and acceptance. And for that very reason, she can have a house full of EEs, chew toys, deer antlers, and most anything else she wants. Nothing tops love and nothing means more than the joy she brings to my life.

And then there is Chipley. What would he give? I believe he would give kisses and lots of them forever and ever and ever! Kiss By A Dog!