“Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one.” -Anonymous Webb just barely had the second of those two important things! And today is the birthday of our boy who loves dogs!
I could put up an entire collage of pictures with Webb petting dogs in Russia on his mission, in Europe on study abroad programs or in the US on vacations. There seems to be a magnetic quality that pulls Webb and dogs together all over the globe. The pup in the photo is an island dog, on our holiday trip to the B.V. I.
Both Torrey and Kona, our 2 family dogs, were loved by every family member (it took some time in my case) but Webb clearly showed the most interest in both.
I can’t take credit for nurturing Webb’s puppy love. It came innate with his personality while I had to learn to tolerate the whole “family dog” proposition. Brent and the kids lobbied for getting Torrey, despite my protests. And I have to concede that Torrey was a winner. Eventually anyway; after we put up with her youthful labrador shenanigans.
Kona, of course, became the replacement dog you have to provide when kids lose their beloved pet. Then Kona went on to live twelve good years with Webb as her most ardent champion when the rest of us tired of Kona’s antics of roaming Los Gatos.
But back to the birthday boy and a quick story relative to dogs. Perhaps this was Webb’s first brush with a celebrity and it was definitely Kona’s first and only celebrity encounter. One night Brent and I spotted Dustin Hoffman and his wife walking in town and they headed into the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Co. to hear a jazz band gig. We high tailed it home to tell the kids who wanted to go back and gawk themselves.
Because Kona was just a pup, Webb didn’t want to leave her so he carried Kona along, only to find out his pet wasn’t welcome inside the coffee shop. So Webb sat outside the window while the girls went inside to spot Dustin Hoffman. While they were looking for the famous actor, Dustin Hoffman noticed Kona in Webb’s arms, wandered outside and started asking Webb about his puppy (breed? age? name? etc.).
So Dustin Hoffman is a dog lover too. And Webb is our dog loving birthday boy! Ernie, Webb’s 1 year old beagle, is very lucky dog to have an owner who has historically been a dog’s best friend to dogs all over the world! Happy Birthday to Webb, friend to dogs everywhere!
