“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.
Wouldn’t the world be a wonderful place if we all approached others as our dogs do us? With love, kindness, and quick to forgive.
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We had two labs, yellow and chocolate; the yellow passed a few years ago, now we also have my son’s wild chocolate lab. I know my old dog Dickens would love to have her pillows back to herself. Heck, though — she still has the cats to deal with!
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I love your quote (goal), Can I borrow it please? It would be great if we could all be more dog like. Not sure about the sniffing of bottoms though!
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You are always welcome to use anything I publish. Just make reference as appropriate.
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Wow. Love her.
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A beautiful post. Happy Father’s Day. You sound like a great dad.☺☺
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Thank you. We got three girls into their 20’s ( a nurse, a teacher and baby starts medical school tomorrow) without anyone going to jail or getting pregnant. I’ll take that as a measure of success. 😎
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Raising children is the hardest job but, you have succeeded. A great big Happy Father’s Day and a hug, you certainly deserve it. ☺☺☺
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