Couldn't forget you if we tried

Dogs pass quickly through our lives and then hang around forever.

My daughter Audrey recently had to put down her family’s yellow Labrador Grace. She was a sweet dog, who in her 13 years saw the family grow to double figures. She was there in the background every time Audrey brought another baby home. She never growled, bit or snapped at any of the tiny folk who tugged on her ears or grabbed her tail.

Grace was also my father’s last dog. He lived with my daughter and son-in-law Aaron for a year after my mother died until he went into a nursing home. Dad was very fond of Gracie who sat...