The Same, But Different

“Dad, it’s the same, but different.”  … Elissa “Jelly” Visotski

It was sometime during her grade school years that Elissa came up with that quote, worthy of being mentioned with  Yogi Berra’s list of great quotes.

Two things that are the same, but different  would be  children and dogs.

A quiet moment with Martha  last night. Photo by Megan Visotski

Our three daughters were raised in the same environment, yet all three are very different in their personalities.

Our four, Black Labs all look the same (pretty much) but each is different in how they act and how they expect/need to be treated.

It is also easy to overlook the heirarchy between them because you are with them every day.  Insert a sassy puppy into the mix and you notice behaviors that you were oblivious to.

For the last 3+ weeks, we have kept Megan’s puppy, Martha here.  Today, she goes back with Megan to Auburn to pack up her apartment and prepare to head to Houston for PA school.

Martha and I got along great and I’ll miss her sweetness.  It will be interesting to see how the other dogs react to her leaving. Surely they will appreciate the ability to take a nap without her jumping on them, wanting to play and wrestle.

Martha hinting to Maggie that she wants to play.

If I could only get my brain to function like our dogs; love everybody  with unconditional abandon and experience every activity as if it was my favorite thing.

Now there is a lofty goal.