"You Have to Want the Dog."

Roma and Muzzy in a rare, shared Kodak moment.

First Lady Michelle Obama, quoted in the New York Times on Thursday: 

“I got up at 5:15 a.m. in the morning to walk my puppy,” Mrs. Obama acknowledged ruefully to a group of Congressional spouses last month. “Even though the kids are supposed to do a lot of the work, I’m still up at 5:15 a.m. taking my dog out. So for everyone who has a child asking for a puppy, you have to want the dog.”

For years, I drove my boyfriend crazy for a dog. Every time I saw a dog, I would cry out like a toddler, "Adogadogadogadog!" Eventually the boyfriend got me the dog I wanted, and we called her Roma. A dozen years later, my best friend gave me a puppy named Muzzy. I wanted that dog, too.

I am not married to the boyfriend any more. Nor am I married to the leader of the free world. But I the first thing I do every morning is walk a couple of dogs. Then I walk them before lunch and again before dinner. Later, I take them to the Dog Park to run off-leash for a couple of hours. These walks are usually the happiest parts of my day. 

--z